200-year tale of pedal power is one hell of a ride
How did you become involved in cycling?
When I was at college my girlfriend’s father was a cyclist and asked if I wanted to come for a ride one evening. I’ve always suspected that as a protective father he was hoping I might get run over. Instead I fell in love with cycling almost instantly.
What is your favourite career achievement?
I know this will sound a bit smug to a lot of people, but I’m proud that through some very dark years for cycling I raced as a clean rider. If I’d done it differently I could probably have been more successful (and a bit richer) but I did it honestly, and that’s worth more.
Why did you decide to write Re:Cyclists?
I’ve researched books before and kept coming across great stories. For instance, Ion Keith-Falconer was an extraordinarily tall Cambridge theology student in the 1870s. He was the world’s fastest bike-racer because the length of his legs meant he could ride a bigger front wheel on his penny-farthing than anyone else, so he went further for every pedal stroke.
Equally, I was fascinated by the sheer scale of cycling as a national pastime between the wars – whole families would go for a ride with children in sidecars or slung in hammocks between their parents’ bikes.
I wanted to look at how cycling has grown when 40 years ago the expectation was it would die out.
What research did you undertake?
I took up riding a penny-farthing, which I loved. They’re more comfortable than they look and drivers give you huge amounts of room.
I interviewed riders old enough to remember riding in the ’30s and ’40s.
Which stories or facts most surprised you?
In the 1890s cycling was deeply posh. Every member of the House of Lords rode a bike and, in the London social season, ladies took bicycles into the ballrooms and danced on them.
The first aerial military reconnaissance was conducted by Lord Baden Powell when he hung a camera from a kite and towed it behind his bike.
How did cycling begin?
It started in Germany in 1817 after crop failure killed the horses and a forestry official called von Drais was looking for a way to get about. He discovered how easy it was to balance a wooden beam with a cartwheel at each end. They became a dandyish fashion, like a modern hoverboard. There were calls for them to be banned almost as soon as they were invented, because people tended to ride on the pavement.
Have bikes changed greatly?
Von Drais’ bike didn’t have pedals, you just pushed with your feet. It took until 1860 before someone (we don’t really know who) attached pedals to the front wheel. The chain-driven rear wheel appeared in the 1880s and bikes have changed little since.
Why is there such dislike for cyclists?
It’s got a long history. There was a case of a stagecoach driver using a mace to attack cyclists.
A transport minister of the ’30s suggested that if motorists just kept killing cyclists they would learn to get out of the way.
The reasons for the hostility are complicated, but I actually think things are improving a little.
Why is cycling so popular now?
High-profile sporting success helps, inspiring people to ride and generating political will to invest in infrastructure. Riding a bike is now seen as a choice, rather than something you would do only if you couldn’t afford a car.
Re:Cyclists: 200 Years On Two Wheels is published on March 23 by Bloomsbury.