The White Mountain Road Club is very proud of the Valley of the Sun Stage Race that was renamed in 1994 in memory of John Earley. John Earley was one of our founding members who passed away in 1994. The stage race, which was first promoted in 1992, has been a big success. It is heavily attended by national and international teams such as United States Postal Service, Saturn, Health Net, and Canadian and United States National Teams. The race offers all categories and attracts almost eight hundred racers and thousands of spectators.

John Nelson Earley was born in San Francisco, California, and raised an only child in Palo Alto, California. After graduating from high school he attended Menlo Park Jr. College for a year. He then packed up his Chevy and headed for Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. John graduated from ASU with a degree in history. Realizing this wasn’t going to help him get a job, he returned to ASU and took some accounting courses. He then took the CPA exam and passed it at his first attempt.  

By age 33, John was pursuing his career with Fortune 500 accounting firms. He decided he needed an outlet, especially with a wife and three girls at home. He found that outlet in cycling and became obsessed!  

The first team John raced for was Apollinaris Cycling Club of Tempe. In 1981 John and three of his friends rode for the Marina Del Ray Cycling Club from California. Then in 1982 John and his three friends organized the White Mountain Road Club (WMRC) in Tempe with Dick Landis of Landis Cyclery as the primary sponsor.  

John continued his support of WMRC until just before his death. He died unexpectedly of a heart condition while on a business trip to Texas.  

John is survived by his wife Ronnie, three daughters Jennifer, Joanne and Anjie and a son John Leo. The family lives in Arizona.  

John Nelson Earley

29 May 1944 — 12 March 1993