CATALOG OF THE CYCLE COLLECTION O 



in it as a mechanism, as well as in riding or racing, and bicycle clubs 

 were a part of the social and sporting scene. 



A nation-wide bicycle club, the League of American Wheelmen, 

 was formed on May 30, 1880, at Newport, E. I., through the joint 

 efforts of Kirk Munroe, of New York, and Charles Pratt. Mem- 

 bership went above 100,000, and the influence of its numbers was an 

 effective promoter of good roads. 



Bicycle racing as an international sport 50 years ago had a large 

 and enthusiastic following in the United States, and the demand for 

 lighter and faster bicycles accelerated many of the improvements 

 made by the manufacturers. The successful racers were the sports 

 heroes of the day. Charles M. Murphy was one who attained lasting 

 fame by an amazing performance. On Jmie 30, 1899, on a board 

 surface laid between the rails of the Long Island Railroad, Murphy, 

 riding within a hood built at the rear of a car, kept up with the car 

 as it was pulled by a locomotive at a little faster than 60 miles an hour. 

 For this feat he became known as "Mile-A-Minute Murphy." His 

 record was surpassed on May 17, 1911, when Alfred Letourner pedaled 

 a mile in 33.05 seconds on a highway in California, travelling at the 

 rate of 108.92 miles an hour in the wake of a shield attached to the rear 

 of a midget racing automobile. 



Directly and indirectly the bicycle had a decided influence on the 

 introduction and ready acceptance of the automobile. The bicycle 

 introduced thousands of persons to individual mechanical transporta- 

 tion, and proved the value of many materials and parts that were 

 subsequently taken over by the automobile designers. Ball bearings 

 found one of their earliest uses in bicycles of 1880 or earlier. The 

 differential unit was employed in tricycles, and various forms of free- 

 wheeling and gear-shifting devices were in use. Steel tubing, de- 

 veloped largely for cycle frame construction, was adopted by some 

 early automobile builders. Pneumatic tires for cycles were patented 

 (No. 435995) in the United States on September 9, 1890, by John Boyd 

 Dunlop, a veterinarian of Belfast, Ireland, and were actually in use 

 on bicycles prior to that time. That was before the gasoline auto- 

 mobile came to America. 



Many pioneer automobile builders were at first bicycle manufac- 

 turers. Among these were Charles E. Duryea, Alexander Winton, 

 Colonel Albert A. Pope, H. A. Lozier, and George N. Pierce, all of 

 whom manufactured automobiles bearing their names. Furthermore, 

 Wilbur and Orville Wright were bicycle manufacturers in Dayton, 

 Ohio, before they turned their attention to the aeronautical field, and 

 Glenn H. Curtiss, another aviation pioneer, started out as a bicycle 

 manufacturer. 



Many well-known bicycle racers of the early days ultimately became 



