When it comes to the roots of mountain biking, most people think of Gary Fisher, Joe Murray and Tom Ritchey. For one reason or another, Victor Vincente of America, one of the culture’s most colorful, innovative and prolific figures is seldom acknowledged anymore. The former road racing champion, Olympic athlete, actor, writer, artist and race promoter has more accomplishments under his belt than almost any cyclist alive, and his classic book “Beyond 1991: A Dirt Rider’s Trek Epic” is simply a must-read for all cyclists. Recently, Urban Velo caught up with VVA via email.

What have you have been up to in recent times?
These days I’m caretaker at the Benmore Valley Ranch, where the vinyard will soon be replaced with organic fruit and nut trees, and grazing cattle and buffalo. The few remaining grapes are providing a grape stomping party this weekend; the wine will be Chardonnay in summertime.

Do you happen to have a PayPal account so people can order your book (and other stuff) online?
I don’t have PayPal, but people can print out the order form [on my website] and mail it to me. My new mailing address is P.O. Box 661 Lakeport, CA 95453 [The address on the website is outdated].

For more information on VVA, check out this interview and this timeline, or just buy his book. You won’t regret it.

This entry was posted by Urban Jeff on Friday, October 26th, 2007 at 12:02 am and is filed under News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.