jppe

After reading some of the 50+ ers first centuries, I've come to realize that organized rides have been around longer than I realized. For those that have been riding for a while and have some history with cycling (my personal experience is only about 10 years), tell us about what organized riders were like as far back as you rode or recall. Were there any in the 60's or 70's by chance??? How did they compare to rides of today?

Artkansas 

There were organized rides in the 1800s. The Peterborough Cycling Club has been around since 1873 as has the Oxford University Cycling Club.

DnvrFox

There is a great video developed by our local public-interest TV/Cable station that traces the history of bicycling in Colorado (and, by implication, the US of A).

Bicycling was a tremendous social event and activity in the late 1800's and early 1900's - prior to the introduction of the automobile. There were formal "Bicycle Clubs" - which were very "high class" socially and had their own buildings, etc.

There were organized rides and races. There was one where the race route paralleled a train track. Folks would board the traiin, which would go along at the speed of the race, and they could watch the entire race from the "comfort" of the train.

Many of the roads we ride on today were first bicycle roads and trails. There was a complete bicycle path from Denver to Colorado Springs, and folks would ride penny farthings and other single speed bicycles on these dirt/gravel trails, doing more than a Century in the process. There were facilities along the way. Of course, when the auto came, the trails disappeared and became roads and using the auto became the social thing to do - hence the formation of Auto Clubs, etc., and bicycling went, essentially, phfft. Now we are trying to build a new bicycle path to Colorado Springs.

Also, bicycles were one of the liberating forces for women's rights, as some women rejected wearing dresses and the like, instead, violating all social norms and more's, riding in pants.

The Weak Link

A local author, Joe Ward, wrote a book called "Wheeling Around Louisville" in which he discusses the history of cycling in Louisville, among other things. It turns out that cycling was more popular than baseball at the turn of the 20th century, and there were often major organized city rides that occasionally degenerated into mass chaos. Our 3rd Street, which connects downtown to Iroquois park, was patterned after the Champs De Lisees (or whatever, pardon my French), and was designed for leisurely bike rides up and down it. I can't imagine that. I ride the route and white-knuckle it.

Cone Wrench

I was doing some searching on this topic and came across this delightful article:

https://www.legionmagazine.com/en/ind...cycling-craze/

and I love this part:

"In the early years of the cycling craze, the high-wheelers often wore military-style uniforms when out on their group tours of the countryside. With standard bearers leading the procession, and with club buglers noisily announcing their cavalry-like manoeuvres, the wheelmen made every effort to be as visible as possible to the small towns they paraded through. Riding machines that were far beyond the means of most rural folk, it is no wonder some residents resented such intrusions into their daily lives."

...plus ça change..

tsl

My club, the Rochester Bicycling Club celebrated its 40th anniversary three years ago.

The library co-publishes a Rochester History series with the local Historical Society. Two springs ago, they published Bicycles and Bloomers. There's a photo on page six of the original Rochester Bicycle Club from 1880, showing wheelmen dressed as described by ConeWrench.

In a different edition about my neighborhood, they described how until sometime in depression, a major street one block away was regularly closed to traffic on Sundays for bicycle races. It was these racers who got the city to pave the road. Yes, Rochester's first paved road was done for bicycle races.

Artkansas 

So a peloton of people dressed like rainbows is actually rather subdued compared to roadies of earlier times.

Hermes

The first organized ride I did was Tecate to Ensenada Mexico 75 miles in 1979. My wife and I had recently moved to San Diego. I became friends with a runner / cyclist who was attending San Diego State. He and some college friends were doing the ride and since he and I were running and cycling together, I decided to do it. We had recently purchased Skid Lid helmets. We had our running shoes and toe clips with straps. Most riders did not have helmets. This was a large draw and I seem to remember thousands of riders. Remember, this is Mexico and the more the merrier. In Ensenada, we went to a famous bar noted for being routy and we had a truck that hauled our bikes and us back to Tecate. I remember a lot of climbing and we had 52/42 13/25 5 speed cassettes. My wife and I did that ride again on our tandem a couple of years later. At that point in time, riding in Mexico was fun. The people consider cycling a sport and were very nice to us.

Cone Wrench

"I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel.. .the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood." - Susan B. Anthony.


YES! And this was even before the invention of Lycra.

Terex

In the book "Major", about Major Taylor, theres a lot of interesting information about riding in the late 1800's. A number of midwestern cities, like Indianapolis and Louisville, were major cycling centers. History on the Louisville site is informative. They had group rides with 10,000 people. https://www.louisvillebicycleclub.org/history.htm

I'm a member of one club here in NJ that was founded in 1891.

jppe

Thanks for many of your replies on the history of cycling-what I'm most interested in is people's experiences like Hermes. I just didn't hear anything about organized rides until the late 80/early 90's in these parts. Sounds like some of you were already riding in events by then.

Artkansas 

My first was in the mid-'70s. It was a beginners ride through Griffith Park with the L.A. Wheelmen. I rode farther each way to get to the event and home again than the ride was long. I didn't really enjoy it much and didn't ride again with a group until 2006.

icyclist 

In the late 70s, my brother and I rode on a Los Angeles Wheelmen sponsored century, up the coast to Ventura and back. I think all we received was a route slip.

More recently, with well supported rides, I've noticed a strange trend. At rest stops, people are queuing in lines for food, whereas before, people simply walked up to the tables in random fashion and took what they wanted. Lines have completely clogged the process, and I've felt like shouting, "Stop lining up!" Maybe it's got something to do with 9/11, but whatever, it's annoying to stand in line for five minutes or more when it should be unnecessary.

Ken Brown

I went on many rides organized by the Ontario Cycling Association during the 70s. Notice the lack of helmets.

zonatandem

My first organized ride was TOLSC (Tour of Lake St. Clair) in 1973. Sponsored by the Cycling Saddlemen from Dearborn, MI.
200 miles in 2 days.
Started in Detroit, MI crossed into Canada via the Ambassador Bridge. Ended up the 1st day in Sarnia, Ontario (Canada) and covered 120 miles (my first century).
Seconds day crossed the Blue Water Bridge from Sarnia to the USA (Port Huron, MI) and back to Detroit. A relatively shorter ride of only 80 miles.
Both international bridges were closed to motorized traffic (bikes only!) for 1/2 hour. Nice!
Lake St. Clair connects Lake Huron to Lake Ontario.
That got us hooked on good rides!
Rode on my 'real 10-speed' Peugeot UO-8

tsl

Not quite. Lake St. Clair lies between Lake Huron and Lake Erie.

The Niagara River (and its more famous falls) then connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario. The Welland Canal bypasses the falls, permitting shipping to the upper lakes.

JohnDThompson 

The Pasadena Freeway in California was built on the right of way of the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which was originally designed and constructed as a bicycle route in the late 1800s.

colorado dale

the two oldest rides I've been in are TOSVR and Horsey 100
TOSVR has been around since 1962 horsey since 1977
https://tosrv.org/10/index.htm

https://www.bgcycling.org/

I started riding Hosey approx 1980 and rarely missed one until I moved to Colorado in 2004

Smogsteve

My club Riverside bicycle Club has been in continual existence since 1891. They had their own velodrome back then and racers came from all over the world to race there.
As far as organized ride for recreational riders I can only say the rides I have been on in the last few years are much better organized than those that I attended in the 1960 -1970's. It could be just that I don't try to make every ride a race any more.

BlazingPedals

DALMAC has been around since 1971. As far as I know, the only multi-day ride that is older is TOSRV. This year marks the 40th year of riding from Lansing to Mackinaw City. As is the tradition for the past 20 years, every 5th year they offer an optional quint century route: 500+ miles in 5 days.

Dchiefransom

Earlier this month we put on the 37th annual Primavera Century.

JanMM

The Hilly Hundred, which attracts 5,000 cyclists to Southern Indiana every October, dates back to 1968.

VROD

my first century was late 70's unsupported except for a sag wagon that circled the route in case of an accident, someone broke down or couldn't finish.

zonatandem

tsi:
My bad . . . Lake St. Cllair/Detroit River connects Lake Huron to Lake Erie, which connects to Lake Ontario. Have bicycled by the Welland canal and it's a stange sight to see the superstructure of an ocean going ship in the middle of an Ontario farm field!
Been away from that neck-o'-the-woods since 1978.

Another of our favorite back-to-back centuries in the mid-70s was the Canadian Mile Eater (200 miles in 2 days) Sarnia to Stratford (Ontario) and back and the one-day Wolverine 200-Miler on Belle Isle in the Detroit area.
Did my first TOSRV in 1975, one of the few years it did NOT rain.
Also did TASSLE (Tour Along the Southern Shore of Lake Erie) Toledo to Cleveland and back, 200+ miles in 2 days. The Hancock Horzontal Hundred (HHH) in Findlay, Ohio area. My wife rode that one of a real Huffy 10 speed with upright bars!
There many good rides/tours at that time
Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem!

jppe

Rudy-without the benefit of the internet-how did you find out about rides like those?