U.S. #4689
2012 45¢ Road Racer
Bicycling
Issue Date: June 7, 2012
City: Minneapolis, MN
Quantity: 10,000,000
Printed By: Ashton Potter
Printing Method: Offset
Perforations: Die Cut 10 ¾
Color: multicolored
The winner of the first bicycle race shot to victory on a wooden bicycle with iron tires in 1868. Bicycle racing has evolved tremendously since that day. Two-pound frames and aluminum wheels carry cyclists for distances and at speeds unimaginable to racers in the 19th century.
Competitions vary greatly in distance; the most grueling is the annual 3,000-mile Race Across America. Athletes begin in California and bike to the East Coast, almost nonstop. The race began in 1982, when four men rode from Santa Monica, California, to the Empire State Building in New York City. By 2011, over 300 racers with support crews set out to overcome the heat of the Mojave Desert and the altitude of the Rocky Mountains.
Riders average over 250 miles each day, sleep less than two hours at a time, and climb over 150,000 feet of mountains. More than half of participants drop out each year from fatigue or injury. After more than a week on their bikes, the physically and mentally exhausted competitors finally reach the East Coast.
It takes a rare combination of training and determination to join the elite group of athletes who accept the challenge of a long-distance bicycle race.