Search Results
Before Cars, Before Lance, there was Major
From the Xtracycle Website [picked up from an Xtracycle tweet on twitter]. Visit the Major Taylor Association & Major Taylor Society websites.
It’s hard to imagine in our car cluttered culture of today, but before the turn of the (20th) century, bicycles ruled the day. Bikes were, with the exception of locomotives, the fastest vehicles on earth. Among the fastest riders was one of the first black athletes to go head to head with the white athletic establishment. Major Taylor.
The fever around bicycle racing in the late 1800’s can probably only be compared to modern day pro-sports like Football, Baseball, Basketball. Congregations of tens of thousands of people would amass to cheer on racers as they spun around the velodrome night after night, in every major city in the US. A grueling race called the Garden 6-Day happened each year in New York. Lapping the velodrome hour after hour, day after day, the top riders covered nearly 2000 miles in 6 days, and by the end of the race were in varying states of hallucination and fatigue. Something of a mix of the horrors of the Roman Coliseum and Olympics drew massive crowds and honed the finest athletes.
2007 FestiVELO de Charleston Photos
Photos uploaded to my Flickr account. [taken by me]
Photos taken by Michael Davis [pictured below] of Bicycle Inn [select an event date, with FestiVELO to see other photographs he took]. Michael’s website is interesting and has lots of pictures.
[I located his resume. Michael is a legend and I rode with him!]
Bicycling related:
Holds the record for the most attempts and completions for the “Assault on Mt. Mitchell”, 27 consecutive. Finished with a broken clavicle after spending about 3 hours or so toward or in the emergency room of St. Lukes hospital in Columbus, North Carolina. Almost finished last. Several top ten finishes. Best time: 5 hours 38 minutes.
Completed the “Bridge to Bridge” century to the top of Grandfather Mountain 11 times. Best time 5 hours 38 minutes.
Completed the 170 mile “Cross Florida” from Cocoa Beach to Pine Island 9 times. Several top ten finishes.
Ridden 6 Gap in Georgia which is harder than Chinese algebra.
Helped originate the 4th of July Metric Century and rode the event 16 times.
Completed Boston-Montreal-Boston, 750 mile randonneur ride 1992, 68 hours.
Completed Paris-Brest-Paris, 750 mile randonneur ride 1995, 66 hours.
Completed BAM (Bike Across Missouri), a 570 mile randonneur ride 1996.
Has ridden hundreds of thousands of miles: centuries, metrics, doubles, cross-states.
Raced USCF.
Affiliations:
Spartanburg Freewheelers
Greenville Spinners
Carolina Cyclers
Blue Ridge Bicycle Club
International Randonneurs
Ultra Marathon Cycling Association
League of American Bicyclists
Lonesome Bicycle Club
After a tour of duty in Vietnam with the USMC:
Employment:
Orangeburg Bicycle Company: 1st bicycle shop employment. mechanic/sales
Melton Bicycle Co., Columbia, South Carolina: bicycle frame building
Sunshine Cycles, Greenville, South Carolina.
Bicycle Gallery, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Professional Bicycles of Asheville, North Carolina (Pro-Bikes), founder & owner, 1983- 1998-
Received the Bianchi Distinguished Dealer Award for years 1984, 1985, 1986 for leading the sales in the state of North Carolina.
Adventure Cycles, Merritt Island, Fl. Jan.-Feb, 1991. A winter training excursion.
Other Cycling Experience:
President of the “Land of Sky Racing Team”- a USCF club.
Tour leader for the “Smokey Mountain Touring Company”, a touring club for 16 years, organizing countless casual rides, training rides, centuries, etc.
Currently: Former owner of the “Bicycle Inn” of Bakersville, North Carolina, an inn for cyclists, hikers, and everyone else.
Continually leading, organizing rides including charity rides,
and adamantly supporting bicycling.
References: John Bryan of the Spartanburg Freewheelers, one of the originators of the Assault on Mt. Mitchell.
Certified as a “medical responder” with the Bakersville Fire and Rescue.
Computer literate, webmaster
Has extensive knowledge and experience in bicycle mechanics, bicycle frame manufacturing, tubing, parts, accessories, sales, and buying. Also has experience in training for each category.
Bicycles owned now: Serotta Legend Road & Gary Fisher Big Sur ATB
2007 FestiVELO de Charleston ~ 12/02/2007
I rode my Trek Project One along this route:
Ride Details from MotionBased: 07120250805FestiVELO
The city is interesting and made more so by our Sunday tour guide, Cathy [the rider in the white and black on the right of the photo].
Several photos can be see in my Flickr uploads.
my departure for home.
2007 FestiVELO de Charleston ~ 12/01/2007
I rode my Velokraft VK2 along this route:
photo by Michael DavisRide Details from MotionBased: 0712010739FestiVELO
The route was a scenic improvement over the previous 2 days. The route was less safe than the other 2 routes. The cue sheet said 95 miles, the actual distance was 87.18 miles, short 12.82 miles. When I got in safely, I decided not to hedge by bets, given that I was riding my low-racer.
BTW, I rode in strong cross-winds with the disc rear wheel and high-profile front wheel–no problems at all.
I had a blast on this ride. Coming down one of the bridges I achieved a speed of 38.7 mph. It was easy to sprint ahead of riders if I wanted to. I paced myself to ensure I had legs and knees to get home. Some called me Rocket Man–Roger certainly did. Although we stopped a lot which slowed our avg speed, I was able to pass and avoid bring passed. Other riders were impressed with the VK2′s speed [and I'm not "bent fit." Roger and I SXPed together, but not trike and low-racer.
He gave me permission to go ahead [and I did]. as we saw each other we waved and blew horns.
2007 FestiVELO de Charleston ~ 11/30/2007
I rode my RANS Stratus SPX along this route [again & again on the Sullivan's Island portion]:
Here I go…
After riding over 7 hours and having just under 50 miles, Roger and I decided to head back and then decide if we would do a century. After getting back and only having 64.37 miles in near 8 hours, we decided to call it a day. The multiple relative short loops in conditions where it was difficult to achieve a high speed made century completion a challenge, particularly on heavier bikes.
Met BROL Member Roger Zoul
Here’s Roger
2007 FestiVELO de Charleston ~ 11/29/2007
I rode my Trek Project One along this route:
As the ride began, I happened to be along with two riders, Michael and Jana, who happened were also riding a century. I asked to tag along and did so for about 38 miles. My average speed at that point was 18.1 mph. I did not know I was riding with a legend. I slowed my pace to ensure completion and the ability to ride the remaining days. Michael and Jana are very fast.
Photo by Michael Davis
On returning to the departure point, my average speed was 17.1 mph. I was short on my century goal [see MB comments], so I rode within the city to complete the century. The further reduced my average speed to 16.2 mph. I wish I could have hung with Michael and Jana.
Met BROL Member ADC1
Here’s ADC
