The early days of cycling Archives - Page 2 of 3

Tour de France winners: Henri Cornet (1904)

22 March 202312 September 2022 by PelotonTales

Henri Cornet, the younges Tour de France winner ever

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

Tour de France winners: Maurice Garin (1903)

20 March 202311 September 2022 by PelotonTales

Maurice Garin the winner of the first Tour de France

Maurice Garin (1871-1957), the winner of the first Tour de France became a professional cyclist only accidentally. Garin was racing as amateur already (he won his first race in 1893), when he decided to start at a race near to his hometown. He learned only at the start of the race, that this was an … Read more

Maurice Garin after winning Paris-Roubaix 1897

13 April 202216 March 2022 by PelotonTales

Iconic vintage cycling images: Paris-Roubaix 1897 Maurice Garin

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

Iconic Vintage Cycling Images: Start of the first Bordeaux-Paris

13 April 20227 March 2022 by PelotonTales

The first Bordeaux-Paris was held on the 23rd May in 1891. The route was 560 km long, the race was won by George Pilkington Mills.

“the pleasure of riding”

19 February 2022 by PelotonTales

Cycling related quotes from classic literature , quote of the day daily on PelotonTales

“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)

Henri Desgrange, the cyclist

11 June 202216 February 2022 by PelotonTales

How good was Henri Desgrange as a rider himself?

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

What was the penny-farthing bicycle?

13 April 202215 February 2022 by PelotonTales

Learn more about the funny named penny farthing bicycle on Peloton&Tales, the home of great cycling stories

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.

Get a bicycle!

14 February 202210 February 2022 by PelotonTales

cycling appears quite frequently in classic novels and short stories too

“Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live.” (Mark Twain: Taming the Bicycle)

Cycling record of a sixteen-year-old girl

6 February 202228 January 2022 by PelotonTales

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

How to mount a bicycle

23 January 2022 by PelotonTales

“When you have reached the point in bicycling where you can balance the machine tolerably fairly and propel it and steer it, then comes your next task–how to mount it. You do it in this way: you hop along behind it on your right foot, resting the other on the mounting-peg, and grasping the tiller … Read more