Torchy Peden: Star of the Six-Day Races

Canada’s Babe Ruth of track cycling Th e Victoria native dominated professional track cycling during the days of smoke-fi lled arenas and jazz bands

CANADA’S BABE RUTH OF TRACK CYCLING

In June 1928, when Canada’s best-known cyclists

descended upon Toronto’s Cycledrome in preparation for the upcoming Olympics, no one’s arrival was more anticipated than that of William John Peden. Nicknamed “Torchy” by those who claimed the red-haired youngster led the other cyclists around the track “like a torch,” this was to be the 6-3, 220-lb. Peden’s first appearance in eastern Canada.

“If you go out there tonight just take a peek at a long- geared, red- headed gander they call Torchy’ ‘ and whisper to yourself that you are looking upon the greatest cycle racer, amateur or pro, in the world today and that he is a Canadian,” announced the

Toronto Star in a June 11, 1929 article.

Born Feb. 6, 1906, in Victoria, Torchy Peden had been a slight youth persuaded by his parents to take up sports as a means of putting on some pounds. The young Peden turned out to be a natural athlete who excelled at rugby, swimming and cycling. A silver medallist at the Canadian breast stroke championships, Torchy had his sights set on a higher goal.

“I wanted to go to the Olympics in 1928, but I wasn’t good enough at track or swimming to make the Canadian team,” he recalled in another

Toronto Star piece dated Feb. 24, 1948.

Figuring his best chance at an Olympic berth was with the cycling team, Torchy found himself a bicycle in 1925 and began to train. For the next three years, after a full day’s work at the local logging camp, Peden rode his bicycle for about 30 miles before returning home to catch some sleep and then getting up to do it all over again. By the time he arrived at the Cycledrome in June 1928, Peden was virtually unstoppable. Following a series of successful trial runs at the Toronto track, he left for the Olympic Games.

Once in Amsterdam for the Games, however, his luck ran out. Two punctured tires and food poisoning forced him out of medal contention. Disappointed by his mediocre performance, Torchy stayed in Europe to tour the cycling circuit and redeem himself. Throughout the next three months, he defeated the world's best cyclists at prestigious races in France, Poland, England and Scotland, setting numerous records along the way.

Following his return to Canada in 1929, Peden swept the indoor Canadian championships in Montreal, claiming five amateur titles and setting four records. It was a performance that caught the attention of many, including race

promoter Willie Spencer who approached Peden about the possibility of turning professional. In June of that year, Torchy would win both his last amateur race and first professional race in the same week.

“No athlete anywhere received a greater ovation than Torchy Peden, the…westerner who celebrated his professional debut by sprinting to victory over big league bikers from Germany, Belgium, Italy and other centres of the pedal pushing sport,” reported the

Toronto Star on June 15, 1929.

As a professional, Torchy turned his attention to the gruelling world of six- day bicycle racing. Known as the “race to nowhere,” the competition was carried out by teams of two, one of whom had to be on the oval at all times. With most races starting at one minute after midnight on Sunday and finishing the following Saturday, the riders were on the track for 143 hours and covered close to 2,000 miles.

On a track known as a “bicycle saucer,” banked as much as 60 degrees, six- day cyclists paced each other in single file at a speed sufficient only to keep themselves upright. All the while, the constant drone of their wheels continued until one rider suddenly darted down the incline on a mad dash that turned the stands into a state of bedlam. As the runaway rider tried to gain a lap on the field, the others sprinted at breakneck speed to catch him, causing excited fans to rush from one side of the infield to the other. This “jam,” as it was known, continued until the breakaway cyclist was successful or gave up or until there was an unexpected tangle of wheels, a loud yell and an abrupt crash.

After a crash, the crowd would stand silent and wait for the pile of riders and machines to be pulled apart. From the sidelines, the trainers would rush out to tend to the hurt. Although laid low by everything from broken bones to cuts and burns, the injured riders were often back on the track in an hour or two, thanks, in large part, to their own resiliency and a liberal application of adhesive tape, olive oil and iodine.

“I made five pieces out of my collar bone and had a bunch of ribs and hand and foot bones broken,” Torchy recounted.

In the early stages of his career, Torchy had a habit of crashing in the corners, an unfortunate occurrence that might have continued except for a chance encounter with the legendary William “Doc” Morton. At one time, the colourful Morton, who had won a bronze medal in

“This curious blend of boredom and bedlam continued until the final hour

of the final day when the drama reached a crescendo

of excitement.”

cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics, held just about every bicycle racing championship in Canada. When his racing days were over, Doc coached the Canadian cycling team at the 1928 games in Amsterdam and again at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. It was in Amsterdam that he met Torchy Peden.

“He got interested, and we worked together in developing new ideas to handle my weight, such as a shortened wheelbase and the rake of the fork,” said Peden. From that time on, Morton became Peden’s trusted coach and mentor and it was well known that no one touched Torchy’s bike, a ccm Flyer, except Doc.

Morton, along with head trainer Fred Bullivant, was a fixture at Maple Leaf Gardens on race night. With the sounds of a jazz band adding to the six- day race’s festive atmosphere, the event was a smoky spectacle that brought together a curious mix of socialites, politicians, businessmen and factory workers, not to mention assorted members of the local underworld.

“They were nice enough,” recalled six- day racer Reggie Fielding in William Humber’s

Freewheeling: The Story of

Bicyclingin Canada,

“but what they did for a living was none of my business. There were always a lot of petty racketeers hanging around looking for the grab. Nothing you could put your hand on, nothing you could prove.”

Those with a penchant for gambling had plenty of opportunity to do so, particularly during the “jams,” when prizes known as “premiums” or “primes,” were donated by some of the better off in attendance. The winners of such sprints usually received a bit of money or the occasional bag of groceries.

“Hey, ten bucks was a lot of money for us back then,” recalled Torchy.

So it was that this curious blend of boredom and bedlam continued until the final hour of the final day when the drama reached a crescendo of excitement. It was then that the riders used their strategy and strength to bring the race to a climax, with the winners deemed to be the team that had stolen the most laps and covered the greatest distance during the week. In the event of a tie, the trophy went to the team with the most sprint points.

During the 1930s, no one crossed the finish line first more than Torchy Peden. Between 1929 and 1948, Peden competed in 148 six- day races, finishing 145 of them and collecting an astonishing 38 wins. It was a record that made Peden one of North America’s highest paid athletes, alongside Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees. While there were those who christened Peden the “Babe Ruth of bicycle racing,” it was rumoured that

“With his considerable size and flaming red hair, Torchy Peden was a crowd favourite in a sport where clowning around was an acknowledged

skill. At times, he would steer with his feet, throw a few peanuts into the crowd or read the

newspaper while riding.”

Ruth once repaid the compliment when he referred to himself as the “Torchy Peden of baseball.”

At the height of his career, there was nothing in Canada comparable to the spectacle of Torchy and his ccm Flyer on a Saturday night at the Gardens. While the crowd jostled for position amid the thick aroma of alcohol and cigarettes, the big clock in the middle of the arena ticked off the last hour of the race. It was then that Torchy made his move, much to the delight of those now too exhausted or intoxicated to stand.

With his considerable size and flaming red hair, Torchy Peden was a crowd favourite in a sport where clowning around was an acknowledged skill. At times, he would steer with his feet, throw a few peanuts into the crowd or read the newspaper while riding.

“I liked to play to the crowd,” said Peden in a Oct. 25, 1975 article in the

Montreal Gazette. “It was the Depression and people needed a laugh. So just to liven things up a bit, I’d grab a hat off a spectator’s head and ride a few laps before giving it back.”

In 1932, “Red” Foster began to do radio broadcasts from Maple Leaf Gardens on race day. He said in a April 29, 1936

Toronto Star story that if Torchy won, the school kids present “created more din than a Chinese New Year in Shanghai. When anyone else won, they didn’t twiddle a tonsil!”

Torchy Peden had achieved a rare status in the world of Canadian sports. Although he didn’t compete in the Olympics again after 1928, he returned to help coach the Canadian cycling team in 1932 and the track team in 1936. In recognition of his various accomplishments and in gratitude for the recognition he had brought the bike manufacturer ccm, on June 10, 1938, the company presented Torchy with a gold-plated version of his famous ccm Flyer, which now resides in the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

During the Second World War, Peden served as a physical instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Force. When he came home following the war, he returned to racing, but knew his time was drawing to a close. “I’m lucky to be back now, at 42. But I must admit that I can’t expect to go on much longer. Once the younger crop gets in the swing, I’ll have to get off my bicycle,” confessed Peden, who, on Nov. 12, 1948, retired from competitive racing.

With the popularity of six- day bicycle racing in deep decline, Torchy

spent the early days of his retirement attempting to resurrect the sport by means of a portable track made of steel and masonite. Constructed in sections and transported by truck, Torchy’s track could be reused, unlike the old wooden tracks that had to be torn down and scrapped after each race. Despite the cost advantages of his track, Torchy was unable to breathe new life into the six- day races, their glory days now gone forever.

Having used up most of his savings, a disappointed Peden thought about going back to Victoria to look for a job. “But I learned you can’t go back,” he said. “Everyone was expecting me to come home a wealthy man. I was important to a lot of people. I just couldn’t destroy the image they had of me.”

Faced with a self-imposed exile from his homeland, Torchy headed to the United States where, for a few years, he managed a stock car oval, before settling in Northbrook, Ill., where he ran a sporting goods store. In 1952, he became a sales representative for ccm. Although he was well-known as the skate man for the Chicago Blackhawks, there were many who maintained that until he died on Jan. 25, 1980, Torchy thought more about bicycle racing than he ever did ice skating.