Hannah North at 1975 Red Zinger Bicycle Classic

The Red Zinger Bicycle Classic (1975–1979) was a

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The ...

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

History

In 1975, Mo Siegel and John and Wyck Hay, founders of the

Celestial Seasonings Celestial Seasonings is an American tea company based in Boulder, Colorado, United States. The company specializes in herbal teas but also sells green, white, black, and chai teas. Founded in 1969, it is a subsidiary of Hain Celestial Group. ...

herbal tea company, launched the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic race to promote alternative transportation in the Greater Boulder area, particularly bike lanes, bike paths, and community awareness. The Classic was named after their popular

Red Zinger Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

tea. In 1979, Michael Aisner, the race's then PR director, bought the race for one dollar from Siegel, and with his blessing took the idea of a grander event to

Peter Coors Peter Hanson Coors (born September 20, 1946) is an American businessman and politician. He formerly served as the chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of MillerCoors. Coors was the Republican Party nominee in the 2004 United ...

, the

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

impresario. Over the next 8 years, the Coors International Bicycle Classic grew into two weeks of racing in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, with stages in some years in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. From 1981 to 1992 a youth bicycling series called the Red Zinger Mini Classics was held in Colorado, its name inspired by the original Red Zinger Bicycle Classic, inspiring a generation of young cyclists to enter the sport. Criterium stage of 1975 Red Zinger Bicycle Classic

Winners

* 1975 -

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

, Hannah North * 1976 -

, (no women's division) * 1977 - Wayne Stetina ,

Connie Carpenter Connie Carpenter-Phinney (born February 26, 1957) is an American retired racing cyclist and speed skater who won four medals in World Cycling Championship competitions (both road and track cycling) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was a th ...

* 1978 - George Mount ,

Keetie van Oosten-Hage Cornelia (Keetie) Hage, known by her married name Keetie van Oosten-Hage, (born 21 August 1949) is a Dutch former cyclist from Sint-Maartensdijk, Zeeland. She came from a family of cyclists, sister of Bella Hage, Heleen Hage and Ciska Hage, ...

* 1979 -

Dale Stetina Dale Stetina (born July 9, 1956) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed in the late 1970s through the 1980s. He is a two-time U.S. National Road Champion and two-time winner of one of the Coors Classic held in Boulder, Colorado. He ...

Notes

{{Reflist Defunct cycling races in the United States Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1978 Recurring sporting events established in 1975 1975 establishments in Colorado Men's road bicycle races Women's road bicycle races 1978 disestablishments in Colorado