Athlete
Road racing
Victor began riding and racing with the Santa Monica Cycling Club on a road bike at the age of 16 inDouble-transcontinental record and the VVA name
In 1974, Victor established the double-transcontinental record by cycling from Santa Monica, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and back to Santa Monica, covering the distance in 36 days, 8hours. This achievement prompted him to change his name, and so he adopted the title Victor Vincente of America, two ways of saying "winning."Mountain biking
During a recreational ride one day in 1978, descending a residential canyon road into the San Fernando Valley, in southern California, the pavement unexpectedly ended and Victor found himself riding down a dirt road. A sharp rock blew his front tire within a mile, and it was this upset that led to his independent development of bicycles suited for dirt roads and trails. In 1980, Victor established the Reseda to the Sea event which still carries on today, the most recent edition being on March 9, 2019. He also promoted Puerco!, Mt. Wilson hillclimb and downhill, Sespe Hot Springs Two-Stage, and two supported tours: Pirú-Cuyamá Overland, and Haute Route. Victor was inducted into theDesigner
Victor has created a multi-faceted body of work, ranging from coins to electronic jewelry, mountain bikes, human-powered vehicles, garments, posters, and graphic art.Mountain bikes
His bicycle building years were from 1979 to 1991. In conjunction with Victor’s love of cycling, he designed various models of mountain bikes, beginning with 'Topanga!' in 1979 which featured 20” wheels with 1X7 gearing, followed by Palisadian in 1981 (24” wheels), VVA-26 Semi-Custom Dirt Road Bicycle in 1982 (26” wheels), Colt 20/20 in 1982 (20” wheels, a hillclimb-specific bicycle), and 1991 in 1991 (26” wheels).Human-powered vehicles
Lured by the possibility of becoming the world's fastest human, Victor designed two machines. The first of these, Tachy Taxi (from Greek: "speed," and "travel"), he entered in the First International Human-Powered Vehicle Championships in 1975, where his crash into spectators ended his bid for glory. Later, in 1979, Tachy Taxi Two, which he designed to run on rails in order to eliminate all steering problems, crashed into the cameraman who was standing over the rails at the finish line, using a telephoto lens.Author
Major results
Road racing
;1957 : 1st Southern California junior road championship ;1958 : 1st Tijuana - Tecate, Mexico : 2nd Southern California road championship : 1st All-California road championship ;1959 : 1st Tour du St-Laurent, Canada : Member Pan American team, Chicago : 2nd Southern California road championship ;1960 : 1st Bouquet Canyon B.A.R. : 1st Tour of Somerville, New Jersey : 1st Olympic trials 100-kilometer time trial, teamed with Lars Zebroski : 11th Olympic Games, Rome, Italy, 100-kilometer team time trial ;1961 : 1st Circuito di Monsummano, Italy : 1st Quarrata, Italy : 1st San Casciano, Italy : 1st Calcinaia, Italy : World Championship competitor, Bern, Switzerland ;1962 : 2nd Quebec - Montreal, Canada ;1963 : 1st Santa Monica Cycling Club 10-mile time trial championship, Malibu : 1st Santa Monica Cycling Club championship (clean sweep): road, sprint, and cyclocross : 2nd Pan American Games, São Paulo, Brazil, road race team placing ;1964 : Member Olympic team, Tokyo, Japan : 1st Southern California road championship : 1st Santa Monica Cycling Club hillclimb championship, Piuma Canyon ;1965 : 1st Southern California road championship : 1st National Championship, Los Angeles, California : 1st North America hillclimb championship, Mt. Evans, Colorado : World Championship competitor, San Sebastian, Spain ;1966 : 3rd Münster city track championship, Germany : 1st Circuito di Salsomaggiore, Italy : 1st Oltrarno, Italy : World championship competitor at The Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany ;1967 : 2nd São Caetano, BrazilMountain biking
;1980 : 1st Mt. Wilson hillclimb : 1st Sespe Hot Springs Two-Stage ;1984 : 1st Brian Skinner Widowmaker ;1986 : 1st Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio) hillclimbReferences
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincente, Victor 1941 births Living people American male cyclists Cyclists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1963 Pan American Games Olympic cyclists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in cycling Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Cyclists from Los Angeles Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games