Cycling and Moting
Miniature cycling tracks and tanks of crocodiles don’t go well together
Over 100 years ago, as the Safety bicycle continued to grow in popularity it must have seemed like anything was possible. Where were the limits for this amazing new machine? How far, fast or high could a human go and would they survive if they fell off their bike and into a tank of crocodiles?
That last question was answered in Paris when a rider went over the top of the then popular Tub track and into a tank of crocs sitting next to it. “There was a cry from the audience as he disappeared but the next second his head appeared again.” He jumped straight out of the tank, with the writer saying he owed his survival to the fact “the fearsome brute was facing the other way”.
Tub track racing was essentially a circus act, and at the time very popular. Interestingly it was invented by accident during a game of bicycle polo. “The original English Bicycle Polo Team were performing in Frankfurt and were continually harassed by the ball running into the sides of the ring and stopping so they had a slight wooden banking built to keep the ball in play. They soon found that they could follow the ball on and off the banking without coming to grief.”
From that the miniature tub track was conceived and made to fit into a 42-foot circus ring, the racing on which soon proved more popular than bicycle polo. The track was bought by Australian cyclist Charlie Jones and adapted for the performing troupe that toured Europe. “Probably the climax so far was reached at the Olympia in Paris with a microscopic track, 20 feet in diameter, 4 feet 6 inches wide and an angle of 65 degrees. Their programme included a race between two tandems passing in opposite directions alternately at the top and bottom, making a zigzag course. The effect on the audience of this sensational act was remarkable.”
Having read about the tub track you might think that was the most eccentric thing in the cycling world in 1902, until you turn the page and see a picture of an unknown rider cycling off the end of Brighton Pier. It was accompanied only by a caption: “This photo depicts an intrepid cyclist emulating the feat of the Italian divers which was illustrated in Cycling some time ago. The performance took place on Thursday last, and was the first of the kind ever attempted in England.” Red Bull Flugtag eat your heart out.