4 ms·
My two favorite largely unknown cycling stories from history are (1) this one and (b) the story of Major Taylor.
by ubermonkey 5y ago
My two favorite largely unknown cycling stories from history are (1) this one and (b) the story of Major Taylor.
- 1-more 5y agoI'm in the middle of The Fastest Man in the World about Taylor right now. It's a gripping read, and it does a lot to tie in the politics of the era, what the bicycle boom meant for New York before the advent of the personal car, and the wider ripple effects of the bicycle boom such as on the Free State of the Congo. My fun fact about Taylor is this: In November 1898 he set a world record 1/4 mile time at 22.2s averaging 40.5 mph. The earliest land speed record by a car that I could find (on wikipedia so I'm not that thorough) was set by an electric car(!) on Dec 18 1898 at 39.245 mph. So he threw down a gauntlet and a month later cars failed to pick it up. A hero in the war on cars.