The 2004 jersey marks the 10th in TWW's history. Pretty amazing. I'm sure I've lost a few years on my life designing, ordering, sorting, and distributing these bad boys. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment. But no more. The jersey process will be handed off for 2005. A lot of the time I had fun doing these, but now we're in need of some fresh blood to take this over.
Here is a history of TWW's jersey. Most of you know I seem to remember the past well, so I've included a little insight to each jersey. Enjoy!
Jersey #1 - 1995. Mountain biking was taking off. But we still raced in t-shirts because we didn't want to pay a gazillion dollars (it seemed like it at the time) for those butt ugly euro cycling jerseys. So I came up with the idea to do one myself. Mr. Chai funded the project and I did the design. We actually didn't have any sponsorship but just asked permission to use company's logos. All were receptive except M*vic, you know those silly frenchies. Anyhow, people really liked the first one and we were a team! The blue was inspired by the Grundig series race leader's jersey. Who here remembers that?
Jersey #2 - 1996. The ill advised "group" jersey. What a great idea - instead of me doing all the work, ask the group to help design it. Wow, HUGE mistake. We had some winners like the fairy wand and the map of the L.A. freeway system in the back pockets. The Camelbak outline. Bunch of weird street signs. By far my most disliked jersey. That one was retired quickly. Jacquie Phelan did contribute as well, but we won't blame her - she gave us the idea of the dotted line going all over the place on the front. One of the few acceptable elements in this jersey.
Jersey #3 - 1997. This was the ONE. Many, many, many countless hours doing the artwork for the Man on the Moon jersey (it's hard to tell on the photo, but the astronaut is riding a mountain bike, complete with front shock). This was a huge hit among sponsors and looked great framed on a wall. This was the first year of working with Voler as well. I thought I would be moving to a much better outfit - unfortunately the artist assigned to me was totally imcompetent (she was relieved of her duties shortly thereafter). Made my life a living hell. I remember her name to this date and probably will never forget it. I think I was solely responsible for some major changes at Voler, as I was known as "the guy who wrote the letter."
Jersey #4 - 1998. This is where the artist's block was starting to set in. Struggled for a design. Got some designs from the Pickens (you remember them, right?), but wasn't too hip on them. Was flipping through the clipart when I saw the "X". I liked it okay and decided to go with it. This was the year we tried getting In-N-Out as our title sponsor. They didn't think it would be good to be associated with "wrong way". They did offer us a few coupons for free burgers but I declined. Still like their food though. :) Voler set me up with a great artist this time. Dang cute too. I still remember her name too, but for different reasons... :)
Jersey #5 - 1999. I officially stepped down as Ringleader for TWW. Joel took over, and with the change in leadership we decided to go with a new color completely. Blue was easily recognized on the trail as it was a less popular color. Unfortunately red was more popular, so it was more difficult to ID us. But I really liked how this jersey turned out. Started the international wrong way sign thingy.
Jersey #6 - 2000. Y2K. I had wanted to do a "soccer style" jersey forever. But something else always came up (or I was voted down). Anyhow, it was going to be done this year, regardless of what anyone else wanted. So I came up with this euro-soccer influenced design. I was going to ask Voler to put a shirt style collar on it to make it totally authentic. That may have been too much. Not sure how well received this jersey was, but at least my soccer-jersey-jones was addressed.
Jersey #7 - 2001. This jersey continued the re-hashing of the int'l WW sign. But it was a different style, the "raglan" cut. Definitely more racey than in the past. I think inspired by some Jerseys of the Month on Voler's site. Definitely hurting for ideas...
Jersey #8 - 2002. Help Voler! I don't know what to do for the design. So Voler came through and tweaked our previous jersey. Simple updates, my life made easy, voila! Really getting tired though of the same look.
Jersey #9 - 2003. I think this probably was the 4th time where I said I was done. Again hurting for ideas - looking through catalogs, websites, etc. Then I saw a "Team Martini" or something like that jersey and really liked it. Tried incorporating the look into a TWW design. Other than making the initial design kinda pink, I think I hit on a pretty cool look. Definitely liked the red, white, and blue look.
Jersey #10 - 2004. Not pictured here but on the main site. Wanted to keep a similar color scheme so that people who bought all the navy blue accessories wouldn't be P.O.'ed. Inspired by the amazing Velo Bella jersey (wish I had an artist to do ours), I wanted to get back to some of the whimsical stuff of years past. Not in the same league as the V.B.'s, but hey, I'm no artist. See the Man on the Moon jersey for my best attempt at being an artist. Now just give me some clipart and Photoshop and let me tinker. And that's why it is my time to be done with this. It's been quite an experience. Thanks to all who have supported me through the years. Good night now.