[CR] US track racing, no road

(Example: Framebuilders:Norman Taylor)

From: "ternst" <ternst1@cox.net>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:16:32 -0800
Subject: [CR] US track racing, no road


The history of how cycling e or devolved in the USA is always of interest as it's very different than most of the world. Track and road racing was big during cycling's hey-day in the 1890's. even with bad roads, 100 mile distances were common. Track racing drew thousands of spectators and was probably larger because of the professional riders as well as amateur. It's fairly well documented that as the cars, motorcycles, and airplanes grew with our wealth as a country, the brains went into these industries and that talent that made our bike industry the world's best was transferred to Europe. Our racing didn't go into the multi gears and big road races but stayed with fixed gears because the track racing held somewhat better and the 6-Day competition kept track riding alive. Motor industries growth curtailed that development of the bike industry here. There was a great outdoor circuit of tracks in the East, and singular velodromes throughout the rest of the country kept some activity going through the summers, pro 6-Days holding sway in the winter. Every "6" had an amateur hour before. The proximity of the Eastern tracks was a big plus in keeping that area as the cycling hotbed. There were still road races all over the country, but maybe one a month and so riders were forced to travel far or ride the local tracks. There weren't that many racers so fields were more in the 50/60 men and occasionaly 100 for a big classic. Distances were 25-100 miles and ALL were done on fixed gear track bikes. Remember, the average American in the '30/40's referred to thin tire bikes as racers, as regular bikes were the fat tire ballooners. Even the English 3-sp bikes were called racers into the '50's by many people. Anybody who raced didn't know anything about road bikes and when people said a racing bike it meant a track bike, which was a fixed gear no brake machine. It was called a machine from the 1880's on because it had a chain and gears which made it a machine as compared to the high wheel with direct crank drive commonly referred to as one's wheel. Track bikes were used on the road into the mid '50's, slowly giving way to derailleur bikes. The American Olympic team in '48 got Schwinn Paramounts with Simplex derailleurs just before the boat left and the guys trained on the rollers while sailing over. None of the guys ever rode a roadbike before as far as I know. The first race with mandatory roadbikes were the Olympic Trials in '52. But criteriums and the short park and road races were still fixed gear, giving way slowly as I mentioned before. The roaring '20's gave life back to the 6-Days, and held thru the '30's in the depression. WW2 almost wiped out bike racing, with returning GI's devoting time to family and futures. Cycling was a small sport with exception of the 6-Days, but it was all professional, and the amateur ranks were thin indeed, and slowly grew with dedicated supporters and then exploded in the '70's with the first gas crisis. Road bikes were in and track racing held, but was then the small brother. The European emigres brought their kids into the sport in those pre WW2 years, but that died after the war as our immigration numbers fell after the war. This seems to have been a direct result of Europe's economies growing and the need to emmigrate waned. Hand brake bikes were rare in the US during the '20's/'30's, stock bikes had coaster brakes usually, some fixed gear oldies were still used but fixed gears were really the domain of the racers and the guys used their bikes on the road and track. With the car such a dominant force, and cycling as a recreation not really considered, racing was a minor sport as compared to being the major sport just a few years before. Now it's a major sport again, so it seems what went around is now coming around again. Hope this fills in some gaps, and I look forward to additional comments.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA