Early Bicycles and the Quest for Speed by Ritchie Andrew

Author:Ritchie, Andrew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Published: 2018-03-22T00:00:00+00:00

Fig. 6.14. L.D. (Birdie) Munger set records on American roads in the mid–1880s. [Source: John L. Weiss collection]

Fig. 6.15. Prominent advertising to “boom” records set in road races appeared from the 1880s on in the United States, as in the case of the Clarkeville Road race, “the greatest bicycle race ever since cycling began.” [Source: Bicycling World, 24 June 1887]

Road racing on the high-wheel bicycle was a tough and demanding sport, practised by youthful male club members in the 1880s.79 A large number of high-wheel road records were set and reported in the press, although authenticating the results was always a difficult issue. The League of American Wheelmen initially did not hesitate to sanction road racing and approve records, and it was only later that a debate began within the L.A.W. over the image of road racing. “The Road Race is becoming a popular institution,” wrote the editor of Bicycling World in 1885, “We do not … get as good time, nor is there the excitement that there is in a race where the riders are in sight the whole distance, but we get a test of machines built for service and under conditions that they are likely to meet with in ordinary use; and we get a test of the abilities of the riders on the roads.” At the same time, the paper recognized that “the thing is in violation of the law and can only be pursued under the indulgence of the authorities,” and that “in the hands of irresponsible men, a great deal of injury will be done.”80

When L.D. (Birdie) Munger, a Detroit rider who was later to become Major Taylor’s mentor and trainer, set a record of 211½ miles in 24 hours over New England roads in August 1885, he took great pains to establish its authenticity. “Pace-makers accompanied him the whole distance and he was never alone,” reported Bicycling World, “The distance was measured by a Butcher cyclometer, which had previously been tested at the machine shop of the Butcher Cyclometer Co. Postals (i.e., postcards) were mailed by Munger from all the towns passed through to this office, and they substantiate the presence of Munger in each.” Munger also mailed “postals” to Abbott Bassett, Chairman of the Racing Board of the L.A.W.81 The level of competition that already existed in the mid–1880s is suggested by Munger’s record-setting margin of only 4 miles over the previous holder, F.S. Cook, from California, with 207 miles.

Road conditions were variable, and at their worst, terrible. Munger had to contend with “rough and sandy stretches through Essex County,” and “a heavy white mist which rose from the marshes and made it impossible to distinguish objects ten feet distant.”82 The New England roads were rougher and sandier than British roads at this time, which perhaps explains why Munger’s record mileage was more than 50 miles short of the then current British record of 266 miles for 24 hours set by J.H. Adams on 4 October 1884, though the less developed competitive structure in the U.

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