“A solitary cyclist was coming towards us. His head was down and his shoulders rounded, as he put every ounce of energy that he possessed on to the pedals. He was flying like a racer.”
(Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist)
In this case of Sherlock Holmes a young music teacher woman is followed by a mysterious cyclist on the road between her workplace and the train station. When she appears at Baker Street 221/b seeking help from Holmes to solve the case, the detective recognizes instantly, that she is a cyclist too.
The story was published in 1903 and insists that at this time riding a bicycle was already accepted and approtiate behaviour for young (unmarried) women. (Or at least in Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional world.)
13 May 1909 -The first Giro d’Italia started
On the 13 May 1909 115 cyclist started the first Giro d’Italia from the headquarter of Gazzetta dello Sport in Milano. The race contained 8 stages and covered 2447,9 km. The first stage was won by Dario Beni. Luigi Ganna was the first overall winner of the race.
“the pleasure of riding”
“It was up Kingston Hill that he first noticed a peculiar feeling, a slight tightness at his knees; but he noticed, too, at the top that he rode straighter than he did before. The pleasure of riding straight blotted out these first intimations of fatigue.” (H. G. Wells: The Wheels of Chance: a Bicycle Idyll)
What was the penny-farthing bicycle?
The penny-farthing bicycle was the first vechicle called bicycle. With its large front wheel, it was popular in the 1870s and 1880s, before the modern bicycles became fashionable.
Maurice Garin after winning Paris-Roubaix 1897
The second edition of Paris-Roubaix was held on the 18th April 1897. 32 professional and 28 amateur cyclists departed in the rainy Paris, but the 280 km long racerun mostly under sunny conditions. The Italian-born French Maurice Garin, who is best known for winning the first Tour de France in 1903, and the Duch Mathieu … Read more
Cycling record of a sixteen-year-old girl
In September 1893, a young sixteen-year-old girl rode on bicycle from Brighton to London and back. The road between the two cities was 190 km (120 mi) long and it took her 8 hours and 30 minutes to return to Brighton from the capitol, wich was considered a new record. Tessie Reynolds was the daughter … Read more
Tour de France winners: Henri Cornet (1904)
Henri Cornet (1884-1941), the youngest Tour de France winner ever, had a quite short list of triumphs. Indeed, besides winning the most famous cycling race, his other big success was his victory at Paris-Roubaix in 1906. Actually Cornet wasn’t the best rider on the roads at the Tour France in 1904. It was Maurice Garin, … Read more
Henri Desgrange, the cyclist
The founding father of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange (1865-1940) was a cyclist in his younger days. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 km (1893) Apparently, Desgrange saw a bicycle race for a very first time while visiting the finish of Bordeaux-Paris in 1891. First he raced … Read more
Iconic Places: Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes
The Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes was the first successful cycling related enterprise of Henri Desgrange (“the founding father of the Tour de France”) and his business partner Victor Goddet (the uncle of future Tour de France director Jacques Goddet). It was build in 1897, and included 3000 seats and a 666,66 m track, … Read more
Get a bicycle!
“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.” (Mark Twain: Taming the Bicycle)
“if Bottechia had not abandoned it at Pamplona”
I had coffee out on the terrasse with the team manager of one of the big bicycle manufacturers. He said it had been a very pleasant race, and would have been worth watching if Bottechia had not abandoned it at Pamplona. The dust had been bad, but in Spain the roads were better than in … Read more