Marshall "Major" Taylor
Monday in the USA is the national holiday to remember Martin Luther King. He was a great man but he was no cyclist. Fifty years before MLK, Major Taylor was the Eddy Merckx of cycling. In 1900 cycling was the king of sports. Outdoor tracks and velodromes dotted the country. Taylor was the original Cannibal, regularly winning sixty percent of the professional races he entered and he was the first black world cycling champion.
A real honest-to-goodness champion can always win on the merits.””Marshall Taylor
Despite longstanding racism in the United States, Major Taylor fought his way to the top of his profession. He traveled the world kicking ass and maybe changing some minds. More than a hundred years later, the velodromes in the USA have mostly disappeared, cycling is a marginal sport and in the USA cycling is still too often a white person’s sport.
What I find encouraging is the changing face of the professional peloton. It is starting to reveal the expanding nature of cycling’s popularity. In last year’s Tour de France we saw Chinese rider Ji Cheng doing his daily Sean Yates impression- crushing breakaways all day long. It is a universal cycling language; put the strong bastard on the front and keep him there. African team MTN-Qhubeka rode well in its first Vuelta. From the insanely fast stage racing I’ve seen in Africa, MTN-Qhubeka should eventually be a powerhouse. Athletic excellence knows no national boundaries or race. If one has the massive talent and desire there is a decent chance one can find a way up to the professional ranks.
Thirty years ago an all Dutch Grand Tour podium may have been unremarkable, now that podium usually represents three different countries or just as easily, three continents.
The bike is the vehicle of youth and it is there the fire starts to burn. And we are now all adults still obsessed with riding around on those same two wheels. Why does this melding of human and machine so captivate some, where ever they live? I’m already looking forward to seeing the great huge unknown kid from the Mongolian steppes. He herded horses on a bike to the dismay of all around him. Headwinds are all he has ever known. Bidons, what are those? When he first rides the stones of Roubaix they will be the smoothest thing he has ever raced on. He might not know Merckx from mare’s milk but he will float over the pavé like he was born to it.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
Great title and post Gianni!
Around Major Taylor's time was Tillie Anderson ~ The Terrible Swede
Cycling - Definitely the sport of the people, until 1902, when women were banned from racing due to the perceived level of danger in the sport.
Major Taylor's racing in Australia is still remembered.
http://www.starhillstudioaustralia.com/#!major-taylorin-australia/c147v
Nice timely article. What if there were "one-design" race series, like in sailing (I am not a sailor)? Maybe not even uniform design, just a high minimum weight for a low cost of entry?
And three minutes after reading the above, and linking to @markpa's link above, I am £3.66 poorer but my Kindle has a book on Major Taylor's Australian events.
Sounds like a fascinating era in cycling.
David
Respect, Gianni.
@Gianni
I'd watch that for a dollar.
Top class piece, Gianni. Major Taylor was a total boss.
The truly wonderful thing about cycling (well, one of them) is that anyone can participate. With a little scrounging around, a few allen wrenches, and some grease, any kid can come up with a bike that could carry them cross-country. You don't have to wear Rapha and ride $10k of carbon fiber to play.
@Gianni
I'm savoring the imagery here,
@PeakInTwoYears
You mean like Keirin racing? Japanese Keirin racing is basically a one-design series. Only a very limited number of approved frame-builders may be used, and your bike may only use parts stamped for approval (down to the bolt!) by the national association.
Nice one Gianni - I've been thinking of doing an article on Major Taylor. One of the first truly international sports stars. I believe the velodrome in Indianapolis is named after him.
Gotta love that Major Taylor and Jack Johnson were rocking the sporting world right around the same time. As a U.S. historian with a lot of African-American studies, the fear Johnson put into white America was immense. Even better was the fact that he loved to race around the countryside in his hot rod with young white women. Major Taylor was indeed the boss. Don't know quite as much about him, but I'm sure they tried to find the best white racers to beat him and prove the superiority of whitey.
I'm sure Spitzer was pretty pissed the Mann Act bit him in the arse a century after they set it in place.
Nice one, Gianni!