Famous Bike Riders of Today!
Lance Armstrong
Click his picture to check out his book.
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Lance started his sporting career in Plano, Texas. He displayed his athletic gift early at the age 13 when he won the Iron Kids Triathlon. Lance then turned into a professional by the age of 16. He then went on to train with the U.S. Olympic cycling developmental team in Colorado Springs in his senior year of high school. After starting on his journey as a bike racer, he rose in the amateur ranks effortlessly and qualified for the junior world championships in Moscow in 1989. By 1991, Lance was the U.S. National Amateur Champion. Once he achieved ranks with the pros, he quickly proved himself with a USPRO Championship title, multiple stage victories in the Tour de France, a World Championship, multiple victories at the Tour du Pont, a No. 1 world ranking, and a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
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Click his picture to check out his career achievements.
In 1996, Lance entered the Olympics as the No. 1 ranked cyclist in the world, competed as a member of the U.S. Cycling Team in the Atlanta Summer Games, and signed a contract wit the French-based Cofidis racing team. Unfortunately a few months later, Lance was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer which had spread to his lungs and brain. He went through rigorous treatments of chemotherapy which allowed him to eventually return back to the sport he loves. He then signed on to the United States Postal Service team and went on to win the Tour de France six years in a row.
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Dave Mirra
Click his picture to check out his official BMX site.
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Dave was born in Central New York and essentially started his career in Chittenango, NY. He and his brother Tim would ride around the small town on their bikes everyday. They would notice the older local riders riding BMX; jumping whatever they could find and attempting some early "freestyle" tricks. This entailed jumping curbs, building wood launch ramps, dirt jumps, or pretty much anything they could catch some air off of. Needless to say the two brothers were hooked. Around the mid-80's, Dave started to draw national attention for his flatland skills and was sponsored by the company Haro. He appeared on an underground video which highlights the talents of BMX riders called Dorkin' in York 2. Only 13 years old in this video, Dave was showing some ill moves for a boy his age.
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Click his picture to check out some DVD's he is featured on.
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In 1987, Dave started to get into vertical riding and he progressed quickly. By 1990, Dave and the Chittenango crew built 10 ft. tall and 16ft. wide half pipe. This is where Dave stepped it up by going big and creating all the tricks he could think of. There on after, flatland freestyling was phased out and big air was the new fad. Dave turned pro in 1992 and made a name for himself with his lofty aired and dialed style. At the age of 18, he was the first guy to break Matt Hoffman's three year winning streak.
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Click this picture to buy his video game.
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In December of 1993, Dave was struck by a drunk driver while crossing the street. He had a fractured skull and a badly torn up shoulder while living in Syracuse, NY. He recovered slowly and had to lay his bike down to allow himself to heal. Dave tried to get back into the riding scene by moving to California to ride for GT but he decided that California was not for him and came back to Syracuse. In his first competition back from the accident, Dave grabbed first in the street and 3rd in vertical at the 1994 Chicago Bicycle Stunt Series. Dave then regained top form after visiting his brother on different occasions in Greenville, NC which is known as the mecca of BMX riding.
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