THE WHEELMEN - Lucian Lesna, world champion, in Golden Gate Park - Cyclers' Rest - The San Francisco Call - 05 Jun 1897, Sat, Page 8

THE WHEELMEN 05 Jun 1897, Sat The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California) Newspapers.com

Enthusiasm for bicycle riding was at a fever pitch in 1897, in America, and the whole world. The automobile hadn't yet displaced the bicycle. Everyone rode, and huge crowds flocked to races. So imagine an unknown frenchman spinning around Golden Gate Park with a local who, when he's challenged by some local fast guys, blows them away, and then he turns out to be the World Champion? The description of Bordeaux-Paris is incredible. The first Tour de France wouldn't be run for six more years. Local racers Bob and Harry Terrill were in France, hoping to make some money, racing professionally. One of the racers Pognon described them racing against was Maurice Garin, who won the inaugural Tour de France. We often talk about Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong being the first Americans to break into European racing, or Marshall Taylor, from Indiana back in the 1890s, but here are San Francisco boys going to France to race. How did the Terrill's do, in France? I'll follow up on that. Listen to the podcast about Cycler's Rest, amazing. I don't know why Tom Cooper's illustration is included, as he's not mentioned in the article, but click his name to read about him. He was one of the many bicycle pros who became part of the early automobile racing firmament. - MF

THE WHEELMEN. 

Associated Clubs' Meeting and Race Meet at Sacramento To-Morrow. 

Lucien Lesna, the champion French cyclist, and his manager, Raymond Pognon, whose arrival from Australia was told in The Call yesterday, spent their time yesterday sight-seeing. In the afternoon M. Verilhac of the Bay City Wheelmen took Lena [sic] out for a ride in the park awheel. He told an amusing story afterward about how, when they were riding along the cycle path, chatting in French, three local men caught up with them and one of them said, "Let's sew up these Frenchmen." Verilhac understood what they said, but Lesna, who cannot speak or understand English, did not. Verilhac repeated it to him, and with a smile Lesna "tacked on" behind the trio, and after they had each tried their best to

TOM COOPER

"shake him" he sailed by them laughing. They were telling some one at the cyclers' rest of the "wonder" run up against on the way out, who could not speak English but could ride like the wind. When informed that he was Lesna, the champion road-rider of the world, they had no more to say, but eyed him from a distance with open-mouthed admiration.

Lesna won what is considered the most remarkable race run anywhere in the world, the annual road race from Paris to Bordeaux, 380 miles, about half of which is up and down hill. Speaking of this event yesterday M. Pognon said: "Have you heard who won the annual Bordeaux-Paris race on May 15? We are very anxious to know." I told him the news would not be here until next week. Continuing he said: "This year the race was paced on all the level stretches by motor cycles, which shows you how France is advancing in the cycling line. There are generally about a dozen entrants for the race from among the best riders on the Continent, and the pacing arrangements each man makes are well nigh perfect. Revierre has won it, Lesna has won it, and they judge a man's ability over there by the query: 'Is he good enough to ride in the Bordeaux-Paris?' Lesna's time for the 380 miles, half of it up and down hill, mind you, was 20 hours 36 minutes. Think of that!" It must have been a wonderful performance.

M. Pognon thinks the Terrill brothers [Bob sand Harry - MF] of this City, who went to France recently to race, will do well. "If they are not fast enough to compete with the best riders they can ride against the second or third best. Riders are graded over there according to their abilities, and a third-class rider in France will make more money than a champion in America. Why? Because there are more meets, the attendance is better and consequently the track managements can afford liberal prizes.

"We will say next Sunday the Terrills want to race in France. Where will they ride? Well, let's see. Here is a meet at Marseilles, one at Bordeaux, one at Brussels, three or four in Paris, besides numberless road races. They can find out who is going to ride at each place, and then allot themselves where they think they will have a chance of winning, and not go up against Morin, Bourrillion, Revierre, Champion, Garin or those people, who, if they are not speedier, at any rate have the pacing teams and knowledge of the tracks down so fine as to be almost unbeatable."

The visitors will stay here until Monday morning, when they will leave for the East, stopping off at Salt Lake City, Denver and Chicago. "You have the most delightful climate of any place I have been," Lesna said to me through his interpreter, "but sacre! what terrible pavements," and he put his hands to his ears as if to shut out the din. I explained that most parts of our residence districts were paved with asphaltum. "But why" there? he queried. "Is there not more driving and riding here downtown than there is out where you live?" He could not understand it, and I was at a loss for an explanation myself. [See these clippings about Lucien Lesna: RACED AT EXPRESS TRAIN SPEED part one, part two. - MF]

https://archive.org/details/wheelc20201897111898newy/page/n283

Tomorrow the racing men of the State will have another good opportunity to win gold and fame, at the big meet to be conducted by the Capital City Wheelmen of Sacramento on their new three-lap track. There is a good entry list, valuable prizes, and the meet should be a success.

The board of governors of the California Associated Cycling Clubs will hold their regular monthly meeting in Sacramento to-night and will attend the races to-morrow. Charles Albert Adams has made up a large party, consisting of members of the board, officials and racing men, to go up this afternoon at 4 o'clock in a special car, returning to-morrow night. It will be a jolly outing, as they will have the entire car to themselves, and are to be entertained by the Capital Citys at a smoker to-night and in various ways to-morrow.

The membership committee of the C. A. C. C. will visit the Olympic Club Wheelmen next Tuesday evening, and hope to secure a large number of them as members.

Captain Flinn has called a run of the Imperial Cycling Club for to-morrow to Schaefer's Grove, near Ross station, Marin County.

Judge F. H. Dunne and Percy V. Long will take an extended vacation trip through the northern part of the State, starting Monday.

The Yosemite Cyclers will hold an entertainment and dance this evening at Armory Hall, on Golden Gate avenue. Like previous affairs of the kind held by the club, it will doubtless prove very enjoyable.

The membership committee of the California Associated Cycling Clubs will visit the Imperial Cycling Club next Monday evening and give the members a short talk on the advantages of C. A. C. C. membership. The occasion is the Imperials' regular meeting, and the entertainment committee has prepared a lantern-slide exhibition for their enjoyment.

The announcement made by Zimmerman's father recently that "Zimmy" would again enter the game, accompanied by the statement by Zimmerman himself that he had been training and would probably ride on the New York State circuit, settles a long-mooted question. It has also been said that he would double up with Harry Wheeler and they would ride on tandem. George Banker, another oldtimer, will also enter the lists again this year.

To-morrow morning at 9 o'clock the Olympic Cyclers will leave their clubhouse on Post street, under the leadership of Captain Charles F. Morel, and journey to Uncle Tom's Cabin, in San Mateo County, about half a mile below San Bruno. Arriving there, they will have games, music and a general entertainment, followed by an excellent lunch. These picnic runs of the Cyclers are held about every three months, and are attended by over 100 of the members, the occasions being looked forward to regularly with pleasurable anticipation. To-morrow's affair promises to excel all previous ones.

The American Wheelman Annual is to hand. It is a valuable compendium of records, racers, information for tourists, suggestions for quick repairing and the like, is elegantly illustrated and is really a valuable work. It is issued for 25 cents by the American Wheelman Publishing Company of New York.

Spalding.