A competent biography of one of the first great black athletes to
dominate a previously all-white sport - early 20th-century bicycle
racing - by Ritchie, author of King of the Road. Ritchie's work is
the saga of an almost-forgotten era, when bicycle racers flourished
as the nations sports heroes long before the emergence of team
sports as national pastimes. Of all racers from the early decades
of this century, Marshall W. (Major) Taylor, born poor on the
outskirts of Indianapolis, dominated like no one else riding at the
time. But this tale is given poignancy by the extra barrier of race
that Taylor had to overcome in order to lead his field. Through a
providential circumstance, Taylor was rendered well-equipped to
mingle in a white world. As a young boy, his father had become a
coachman to a wealthy white family, parents to an only child, who
took Major under their wing in order to provide a playmate for that
child. From this, Taylor gained great self-confidence and aplomb in
the company of white folks. Taylor's "break" came when, in a shop
to have his bike fixed, he was observed doing some fancy bike
tricks that he had taught himself. He was immediately offered a job
and a new bike by the owner of the store, thereby beginning his
ascension into the world of bicycles and racing that would lead
ultimately to national and international championships - despite
early problems with dirty tricks aimed at putting the black upstart
in his place. Unlike Peter Nye's recent Hearts of Lions (p. 521), a
more general look at bike racing that told Taylor's story only as a
piece of the whole, Ritchie takes us into Taylor's retirement, his
disappointment at not being accepted into white colleges, his
innovative inventions of new tires for the fledgling auto industry,
and the Ultimate and mysterious failure of the Major Taylor
Manufacturing Company. The final years left to him (he died at 53)
were a blend of bad debts, a dissolving marriage, and painful bouts
of coronary and renal problems that finally killed him. Taylor's
nonbiking years are hard to document, and Ritchie depends heavily
on newspaper accounts of the era and Taylor's own autobiography,
The Fastest Bicycle Rider In the World. Despite this, Ritchie does
an admirable job of bringing to life this forgotten hero. (Kirkus
Reviews)
World champion at 19... One of the first black athletes to
become world champion in any sport... 1-mile record holder...
American sprint champion in 1898, 1899, 1900... triumphant tours of
Europe and Australia... Victories against all European
champions...
Until now a forgotten, shadowy figure, Marshall Walter "Major"
Taylor is here revealed as one of the early sports world's most
stylish, entertaining, and gentlemanly personalities. Born in 1878
in Indianapolis, the son of poor rural parents, Taylor worked in a
bike shop until prominent bicycle racer "Birdie" Munger coached him
for his first professional racing successes in 1896. Despite
continuous bureaucratic--and, at times, physical--opposition, he
won his first national championship two years later and became
world champion in 1899 in Montreal. This beautifully illustrated,
vividly narrated, and scrupulously researched biography recreates
the life of a great international athlete at the turn of the
century. Based on ten years of research--including extensive
interviews with Major Taylor's 91-year old daughter--this is the
dramatic story of a young black man who, against prodigious odds,
rose to fame and stardom in the tempestuous world of international
professional bicycle racing a century ago.
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