The Gainesville Cycling Club was formed at some time before 1981--at this writing we have no documentation about the club at that time. The first available documentation is the map for the Second Annual Fall Century Ride, which was run October 3, 1982. Around 30 riders started the ride. The route went out Williston Road to Long Wacahoota Road (CR340), through Flemington, Irvine, and Fairfield, then east past Anthony and through the forest to Ft McCoy, returning via Citra and Cross Creek. The first finisher back to the Pedalers Bike Shop was Roger Pierce of Montgomery, AL, riding time 5 hours one minute. Club members listed on the map were John McNamara and Larry Shroads.
The paper trail picks back up in 1983. The July newsletter notes the new bike shop in town (Primo) and proclaims that dues are due ($5). The September newsletter lists the following officers: Chris Jones, President; Arnold Betancourt, Vice President; Beverly Pope, Secretary; Stephen Bottomlly, Treasurer; Jim Maurer, Rides Committee Chairman; and Larry Shroads, Publicity Committee Chairman. The 3rd Annual Horse Farm Hundred is announced for October 2nd, using a "new and improved route...(which) takes in more Horse Country while avoiding dogs, rain, and headwinds." This was the first fall century called the Horse Farm. Registrations were limited to the first 5000 received!
The ride schedule for fall of '83 listed one ride for each weekend day, ranging from 10 to 100 miles. There were a couple of campout rides, a swimming ride, a breakfast ride, a brunch ride, and an ice cream ride. The final newsletter of '83 lists the new officers for the next year: Stephen Bottomly, President; Deborah Hodges, Vice President; Stacie McGuire, Secretary; and Chris Jones, Treasurer. Jay Powell is introduced as the first Gainesville full-time bicycle coordinator. There was a report on the campout in a cabin at Gold Head State Park in November. There are several notes about breakfasts at the Sunrise Cafe in Melrose. A Christmas party is announced, which will include a keg and pot luck dishes. An article on the '83 Horse Farm Hundred notes that an error in Bicycling Magazine misrouted preregistrations, misleading us into making conservative estimates of turnout. "Armed with two Chevy Vegas, one motorcycle, 75 maps, 60 T-shirts and not enough bananas, we were overwhelmed by the turnout of close to a hundred riders." Steve Christon chaired the effort.
From talking to old heads, we believe that Debra Hodges ascended to the Presidency, and was subsequently replaced by Dave Mikolaitis. Dave was the last elected President of the non-incorporated GCC. When Dave and his wife had children, he ceased acting as President, which was probably in late '86 or early '87. At that time the club entered the era of Grand Poobah Chandler Otis, who reigned until incorporation in the fall of '91.
The Newsletters of early '88 trumpet the upcoming Yellowstone National Park Tour being organized by Jerry Williams. The Wyoming end of the tour was handled by two former GCC members who had formed a touring company there, Tom Sheehan and Jim Maurer, otherwise known as the Bier Brothers. Also discussed is carpooling for TOSRV and a plea for ride leaders. The ride schedule shows several rides denoted as "B."
The March 1989 newsletter had little news, mainly announcing a club meeting and listing a ride schedule. The October 1989 newsletter talks of the upcoming Horse Farm Hundred on November 5, the bike repair project with the Gainesville Police Department, and notes that Travis Mannix, aged 11 months, went on his first GCC ride. The ride schedule for the first time shows a full slate of both "A" and "B" rides.
The record jumps to November 1990, calling the 10th Horse Farm 100 a "Whopping Success." The other article noted the resurfacing of US441.
The February and March 1991 newsletters are notable in that they have the same headline, "Mountain bike ride, picnic coming up." It was the same picnic, but at different mountain bike ride. The 1991 Horse Farm 100 was the last on the original Horse Farm century route. Not counting bandits, 185 riders showed up to ride on a warm October 27 Sunday.
The GCC became a non-profit corporation on October 15, 1991. The initial board of directors was Chandler Otis, President; Richard Walker, Vice President; Bill Cochran, Treasurer; Craig Lee, Recording Secretary; and Roger Pierce, Membership Secretary.
The 1992 Annual Meeting featured the black beans brought by Jim Sanders and Dana Zimmel, the rolls brought by Dave Wagner, and the fig cake brought by Craig Lee. We also elected the following officers for 1992: Craig Lee, President; Kerry Duggan, Vice President (who yielded in September to Jim Sanders); Bill Cochran, Treasurer; Roger Pierce, Membership Secretary; and Chandler Otis, Recording Secretary. The Memorial Day Picnic at Ichetucknee Springs was on a nice hot day, which made jumping in the springs enjoyable. Ditto for the picnic at Poe Springs on August 1. At the final picnic at Payne's Prairie on Labor Day we concentrated on eating hot dogs.
The 12th annual Horse Farm Hundred was held on a damp October 4th. Around 170 riders attacked the damp roads and strong southerly winds; turnout would have been much higher with good weather, there were over 50 no shows. Co-chairman for the event were Craig Lee and Bill Cochran.
There are a lot of gaps in this history, most notable those before 1982 and in the mid 80's. If you have any input for next year's history, write it down and send it to the club. We need all the input we can get.