Westmount Historical Association presentation on Montreal Bicycle Club: 8 - The Bicycle Craze of the 1890's

       Suddenly almost anyone, man or woman, could ride a bicycle and the bicycle craze of the 1890’s was born. (note this tandem bicycle is steered by the man in the rear) All over the world, interest in cycling exploded.

In Montreal an entire issue of the Montreal Star was devoted to cycling. This was not unique to Montreal, the New York Times also devoted entire issues to cycling.

       This explosion of interest resulted in additional bicycle clubs in Montreal.

A wide variety of uniforms were chosen, one looked like a prison uniform of black and white horizontal stripes. By 1896 there were at least 7 such bicycle clubs in addition to the original MBC. The Wanderers located on Stanley street near Dominion Square had much racing success.

The Ramblers, who were noted for their hospitality were located on Richmond street in Point St Charles. The YMCA located on Dominion Square had an associated club, as did the Victoria Rifles. St Mary’s was the smallest club at 55 members was the smallest club mentioned in this 1896 article. The Voltigeurs was the only primarily francophone club. Finally the City club which was notable in that it permitted women as well men full membership.


     Cycling interests sometimes combined to form a political force. When a $5 tax was to imposed on bicycles, the various club members succeeded in having it reduced to $2. This tax could be avoided further by getting a bicycle license in Westmount rather than Montreal. In this city it cost only 50 cents.

   By the mid 1890’s the League of American Wheelmen had approx one hundred thousand members, there were hundreds of bicycle clubs throughout the continent, and American bicycle racing champions such as Arthur Zimmerman were household names.

Today Zimmerman is best remembered for the controversy he created when he competed in England as an Amateur despite the fact he had received valuable non cash prizes for different competitions. Professional racers competed in endurance six day races were held in many cities across North America. Madison Square Gardens in New York and attracted huge crowds and these races were the premier sporting events in America.

In the 1890’s top professional cycling racers could earn 10 times that of any other sport. However, the National Cycling Union in the UK, was the most important national cycling organization, and cyclists who became the national champion of the UK or held a world record time were generally considered the best in the world.

      Bicycle racing events at the MAAA grounds were also widely attended as can been seen in a Montreal Star newspaper sketch.

Pictures of the crowds can also be seen in details from the 1897 Notman composite photograph of the Montreal Bicycle Club members.

A slightly banked cinder track is not an ideal venue for establishing a new world record in cycling and the racing members of the Montreal Bicycle Club longed for a the highly banked, wood velodromes that had the best performance times.



      In 1892 order to promote the sport Henry Sturmey of the UK founded the International Cycling Association (ICA).

It’s role was to hold an annual cycling world championship and enforce a common definition of Amateurism . The first championship was held 1893 in Chicago to coincide with the World Fair. Here a chance meeting between ZImmerman, the cycling world champion, and a young Black trick, Major Taylor occured.

Shortly after that, Taylor, a 14 year boy almost equaled the world record one mile time at a local race. Birdie Munger. a professional cycle racer who had previously duplicated Thomas Stevens cross America trek on High Wheel bicycle, took him under his wing and the two became lifelong friends and business partners.



However, this is also a time of racial segregation in the United States. In 1894 a group of Southerners managed to get the League of American Wheelmen to ban black cyclists from becoming members.

     That same year, 1894, A.T. Lane became president of the Canadian Wheelmens Association. The CWA had at that time had 2000 members and the vote for president was tightly contested. A.T. Lane received 764 votes to Dr Dolittle of Toronto with 753. Montreal won the bid to host the CWA annual meet against a variety of towns in Ontario. In order to promote the event A.T. Lane organised a Sarnia to Montreal relay ride.
 

The relay riders carried a letter, passed from one to next, requesting better roads and which was signed by mayors along the route. The ride was accomplished in 33 hours.

      The 1894 CWA annual meet was held in Montreal, hosted by the Montreal Bicycle club at the MAAA grounds in Westmount. Cyclists from Toronto met at Port Hope for a special century ride to Kingston where a special steamer was arranged to take them on to Montreal.


      For the annual Meet a commemorative booklet entitled “Our City, Our Sports” was published.

It gives a history of Montreal and Sports of that era, a poem praising Montreal written by future mayor of Westmount W.D. Lighthall, a custom printed detailed map of the city as well as many pages of vintage bicycle and travel related advertisements. A.T. Lane had left a newspaper clipping of his son Bertie’s obituary in his personal copy.



     At the annual meet, nearly 1000 Wheelmen showed up Sunday morning at the MAAA clubhouse, the Montreal Gymnasium, and marched to St James Church to attend a sermon. That afternoon there was a ride to Lachine, for a dip in the St Lawrence. Monday morning there was trip down the rapids, in which 500 Wheelmen participated, followed by a parade.

The next few days a series of races were held at the MAAA grounds. The CWA Meet finished with a presentation of prizes, accompanied with music by the Victoria Rifles, along with a demonstration bicycle polo match, all of which were held at the Victoria Skating Rink.