Kids try a new-old kind of bicycle race

So what's the reward for completing a three-week training session? An opportunity to compete with your age group in Friday night racing under the lights.

If you've never heard of Marshall "Major" Taylor, a genuine American sports superstar, join the crowd. Not many people have.

Mr. Taylor made headlines a century ago in a sport seldom seen today: track bicycle racing. The fact that he was African-American adds a further twist.

In 1899, Taylor became only the second black (the first was bantamweight boxer George Dixon) to win a world championship. This was 48 years before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's "color line."

Like Robinson, he had to deal with racial prejudice. Promoters refused to let him enter races. Other riders conspired against him. Once he was pulled down and choked until he fell unconscious.

Taylor was a gentleman and a worthy champion. This fact still wins him fans today.

In Indianapolis, where he grew up, he was banned from the local track. Today, a velodrome there now bears his name. A biography of him ("Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer," by Andrew Ritchie) was published in 1988, and another book about him is due out next year. Bruce Bailey, a cyclist in Portland, Ore., plans to lead a cross-country ride in Taylor's honor next summer.

In Worcester, Mass., a statue of Taylor will grace the entrance of the public library. Funds for the statue are being raised by the Worcester-based Major Taylor Association. Taylor, known as the "Worcester Whirlwind," lived there during his athletic prime.

Bicycle racing began in the 1870s in Britain, France, and the United States. Riders rode on tracks used for other purposes – horse racing, for example.

In the 1890s, the popularity of bicycles and bicycle racing soared. The modern "safety" bicycle had replaced the old high-wheelers. Mass production and competition among some 3,000 bike manufacturers meant that prices were reasonable. By the turn of the last century, Americans owned 20 million bicycles – and only 8,000 cars.

Hundreds of banked-track velodromes of wood and concrete were built. Racers like Taylor made good money – more even than the baseball stars of the day. Crowds packed New York's Madison Square Garden to see races.

Taylor's father was a coachman for a wealthy white family in Indianapolis. The family gave young Marshall a bike. He got the nickname "Major" at age 14 when, dressed in a soldier's uniform, he did bicycle tricks outside a local bike shop.

Taylor also began winning races. In 1897 he moved to Worcester with his racing manager, Louis "Birdie" Munger. With its many hills, Worcester proved to be an excellent training site.

Taylor soon emerged as an outstanding short-distance racer. He excelled at races of 1, 5, and 10 miles. In 1898, he set the world record for a paced mile from a standing start with a time of 1:41.4. The next year, he lowered that mark to 1:19.

A deeply religious man, Taylor refused to compete on Sundays. That prevented him from racing in Europe, where bicycle racing is still very popular. In 1901, however, he began traveling overseas and become a star in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. He retired in 1910 at the age of 32.

Meanwhile, autos were rolling out of factories. Track-style bike racing, which had brought Taylor fame and riches, fell out of favor.

Sadly, Taylor lost his fortune to illness and failed business ventures after retiring. In 1932, he died in obscurity in Chicago.

Just a few years later, a group of racers began a memorial so that Taylor's achievements would not be forgotten.

Bicycle racing in the US never entirely disappeared, thanks in part to the Olympics. Today, the US has 20 velodromes, compared with France's 144 and Japan's 90. The US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., has a track, but the hotbed of bicycle racing in this country is probably the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pa.

• For more information, see:

www.majortaylorassociation.org

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