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.
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A few years ago, I happen to be in my local library and they had this book on display with a turn of the past century image of a black cyclist on the cover. At the time, being still a young pedalwan, I didn't know Major Taylor from Taylor Swift but I was always looking for any book about cycling, so I picked it up having no idea how eye opening it would be, not just about Major Taylor himself and his kick assedness, but about how popular cycling was in the late 1800s/early 1900s.
Of course, I can't recall exactly what book it was but I'm guessing any biography of Taylor's life would be an excellent read.
MT was a badass no question. I'm not from "Woostah" but I'm near enough to put this on my bucket list
http://www.majortaylorassociation.org/events/georgestreet13.shtml
@Graeme Reid
Please do. This was just a teaser. His story is pretty amazing for many reasons.
@Ccos
Fackin' Woostah had 30 bicycle manufactures back in Major Taylor's day! That's a lot of bikes coming out of one city.
Do that climb and report back to us.
"Major" by Todd Balf is worth a look.
The bike club in Seattle has a great program named after the great man -
http://www.cascade.org/major-taylor-project
plus a jersey if you want to support
http://www.cbcmerchandise.com/estore/default.asp?estore=majortaylor
What's with the weird log in stuff? Website? I know it's not needed, but . . .
Damn I had it in my mind to do a short article based on this photo a while back. Bravo Gianni, great story and article.
@sthilzy
It does amaze me that cycling was such a monster sport back then. Six day races were six days long. I'm sure at the top of the sport, betting, money, drugs were all in the mix. Maybe cars were not so inclined to run a cyclist off the road back then. Also, a cyclist could catch a car then too, better chance of drivers behaving themselves.
Lastly, I read that Major Taylor's track bike was about 20 lbs., 9 kg. That is not so bad.I've owned heavier.
Loving the sentiment on this thread. The concept that the natural will somehow be discovered. Worked out well for Nairo and 16 km's to 3000m each day to and from school. There's also a great piece in Sean Kelly's book 'Hunger' recalling how he won his very first race by just pedalling flat out from the gun and not letting up. By the time the rest realised he wasn't going to blow it was too late. Conversely, Charlie Wegelius had an incredible natural talent, huge determination and great physiology, yet didn't want the pressure of leadership and the expectation that came with that position. The greats of our sport needed so much more than just natural talent, but it's a great place to start!