The Way We Were

 The mind is the most tasty thing a fool can have..far out numbers, pussy, cocaine..bikes, alcohol..formula one in the 70s and a sweet ass rippin ride flowin singletrack..

Yes sir..with the mind comes beautiful things..one of the most if your gifted with it..is a strong memory..they say to know where your going you gotta no where you been...but with this crazy world we got us into..the pandemic..the fight over masks, the election...for even this silly old fool..its hard to remember a time before...Those stacked weekends of racin, and just all fun group rides seem like distant days..to what we got now...

There was a time before One or two teams owned every guy that might be a threat..a time when you had titans clash on opposing teams..Times when even those rivalry's would often flair to curbside run ins..those dudes got along and respected each other and rotated with class...

For the next few weeks lets take brief look at how sweet it was to be teamed up with brothers, and not just some other guy with pro-deal and swagged jersey...a time before that all that matters was likes..and weeknight bragging rights...

Lathrup industries..

or now known as Sweet Bikes...A team of teams...the depth and numbers that theses fellas had through out the days was dam near staggering..spawned from the original Extang boys...Super Dave..Nick Durrey..and Blair Dudley composed a group of strong guys..as time moved forward inching closer to rage Lance effect...

The name evolved to the Ford No boundaries...Then Ford/Giant...later...Lathrup Industries...and now Sweet bikes...

A team throughout the years that bolstered some of the strongest guys in the scene..although not all at the same time...the short list runs like a roll call of state champions..Adams, Jim Bruce, Nick Durrie, DannyK..Tom Archer..Tom Burke..Robert Foshag..

Jon Mesko..Docsavage..Jeff Hamilton..Alvin Nordell...Meurig James...from spring fling king Josh Tarrant..to the ex Sutterhome  home pro Chris Gotwald..Barry Roubaix winner Steve Brojlio..

State Crit Champ Martin Vecchio...it’s safe to assume..that this team probably had more State champions throughout the years than any others that have come before or after...

Although the current format is different now a days as many moved on to lead normal lives..the core brotherhood still exists in a similar form, after absorbing the fallout of the Essex brass crew.. The loyalty lives on..one thing that held true overall these different transformations were the loyalty of each and the respect they give there fellow racers..friends and people...

Quite possibly the coolest guys TMS has ever knew...