Last updated 19:47, Thursday, 09 October 2008

GOLD medals galore for Brits in China! How fantastic.

I wonder if this might bring about a surge of interest in cycling.

Why not? It’s happened before – back in late Victorian days, when cycling was most certainly a craze.

Not that everyone was able to put a new bike on the road. They were expensive. JW Hodgson, Workington Cycle Agents, had a special sale on at their Bridge Street premises back in 1898.

A lady’s Raleigh Roadster – with Dunlop tyres – was on offer for £14 10s (usual price £16.)

A bit downmarket, a lady’s Claremont Roadster (usual price 10 guineas) had been reduced to £9 10s. Cheaper than the Raleigh but, for most folk, still exceedingly expensive. As I remember, all the way back to 11-plus days in the early fifties, you could put a new Raleigh on the road for about £12.

Not everyone could afford a new bike, but second-hand cycles were to be had. Failing that, with a bit of ingenuity a machine of some sort, however Heath Robinson, could be cobbled up by cash-strapped enthusiasts.

Really serious cyclists might have gone to Dias & Co, based in Workington, Carlisle and Dumfries – cycle manufacturers. Their cycles cost from anything between £5 and £30. And for the really serious, they would build machines to their customers’ own specifications. £30 for a bicycle! Back in 1898 that was a serious amount of money.

So who then would have put such a bike on the road? Answer – competitive cyclists, and there were a lot of these, both nationally and locally, back in late Victorian times.

Cycling clubs were springing up everywhere. Maryport even had their own Solway Bicycle Track and it was there in 1886 that a bicycle race had been planned as part of a promotion to raise funds for building a landing stage at Allonby. But, for whatever reason, so few entered that the organisers cancelled the cycle race. Why so few entries? Perhaps the prizes weren’t good enough.

The sideboards of West Cumbria must, at one time, have been weighed down with the winnings from various athletic contests.

The One Mile Bicycle Race held by the Maryport Wheelers Cycle Club at their track in September 1898 had the following prizes on offer. First, a plated egg stand; second, a teapot and third, an inkstand. For the five-lap race, the prizes consisted of a brass kettle and stand, a biscuit barrel and some vases. At their August meeting, they also had a silver plated egg stand as a first prize. So if your family name is Bishop and you’ve got one, or more, of these in your cupboard, it was won by Frank Bishop, a member of the Wheelers and regarded by many as “one of the most promising cyclists to be found in Cumberland” at the time.

We know this because the local paper carried a series of articles about local cyclists. It seems that Carlisle-born Bishop became a cyclist by chance. He was working as an apprentice in a Carlisle cycle shop when his workmates bet him that he couldn’t win a race. He accepted the wager and went on to win a novice race at Carlisle. And once he’d tasted success, he wanted more.

He acquired a racing bike and set about serious training. It paid off and he went on to win many cycling prizes.

In many contests he found himself up against another local cyclist, Albert Waite. In 1898, Waite, aged 21, was, to quote, “a lithe, active and muscular young fellow”. He’d also taken to cycling when placed second in a novice race. One of his early victories was over Three Miles at the Cockermouth Whitsuntide Sports. He nearly didn’t make the race because he had to work all day. He arrived at the ground just in time to compete. He won easily.

At the time he was getting 200 yards start over three miles, but success resulted in handicappers starting him off from scratch.

Space here only for a brief mention of just two early local cycling stars. I’m sure their successes were an inspiration to others.

You know, I think we might well be in for a new cycling craze.