Beer, Cheese, Football--And Cycling?

If you were to ask people what the best US States for cycling are, a lot of people--even those who've  never been to those states--would probably pick Vermont, Oregon, California, Massachusetts, Washington, Colorado or Michigan (especially the Upper Peninsula and the upper parts of the Lower Peninsula).  Nearly every state would get a vote from someone:  After all, we all have different ideas about what "the best" cycling conditions are.

And, I would suspect, at least a few people would pick Wisconsin.  I've never cycled in the Badger State, but I know that its capital, Madison, is consistently rated as one of the most bike-friendly communities in the nation.  And, during cycling's first heyday (during the last two decades of the 19th Century and the first decade of the 20th), Wisconsin had one of the most extensive networks of bicycle lanes.

However, as in much of the rest of the US, the automobile rapidly overtook the bicycle as the chief means of transportation for those who did not have access to mass transit (and even among those who had it).  The bicycle was largely seen as a children's toy.

But, during the "dark ages" of cycling, Wisconsin did more than its share to keep the flame of adult cycling alive, if flickering.  And now the state--better known, rightly or wrongly, for cheese, beer and football (the US version), now boasts some of the greatest concentrations of cyclists and bicycle shops (both brick-and-mortar and online) in the nation.

Jesse Gant and Nicholas Hoffman tell this story in a book released in September:  Wheel Fever:  How Wisconsin Became A Great Bicycling State.

I want a copy for the cover alone:

Happy 69th To Eddy!

Sometimes I can't believe I'm in late middle age. It seems like I did my first multiday bike tour (at age 20), first century (same year).  foreign bike tour (age 21), and race (age 25) all last week.

And it seems that Eddy Mercx's legendary exploits happened a month before that.  He was the first racer I'd ever heard of, and I followed his career passionately. That might be the reason why, in my mind, I still hold an image of him as a young man with long dark hair and an almost-Latin kind of flair that belied his Flemish heritage.

And, of course, I always remember him on his sunset-hued bicycle.  I still think of that color as "Mercx orange" or "Molteni orange", in homage to him and the Italian team with whom he had his greatest professional achievements.

Call me sentimental, but I still think he's the greatest cyclist who ever lived (or, at least, who competed).  In contrast to more recent Tour de France winners, Mercx won hundreds of single- and multi-day classics in addition to his five Tour victories.  (Only Jacques Anquetil preceded him. and Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain followed him, in the five-Tour club.)  And he was a superb track rider who set an hour record that stood for twelve years--a geologic age in the world of cycling records.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, he is one of the four athletes who competed during my lifetime (and I had the privilege of seeing) and thoroughly dominated his sport.  

Happy 69th, Eddy!

(Aren't you glad I didn't mention a certain low-speed "chase" that happened twenty years ago today?'-)

Required: A Single Wheel

As a cyclist who teaches--and as someone to whom odd facts seem drawn the way flies are attracted by --well, you know-- I'm surprised I didn't hear about this sooner.

In St. Helen's  School--a parochial kindergarten-though -8th-gradeinstitution in Newbury, Ohio--unicycling was a required subject for many years.

No, not an elective.  Not an extracurricular activity.  A required course.

So, kids passed each other in the hallways, astride their single wheels.  From all accounts, accidents were rate.

That should come as no surprise, given the level of expertise St. Helen's unicyclists developed:  They were asked to perform at events from Worlds' Fairs to Super Bowl halftime shows--and Jimmy Carter's inaguration.

I could find no explanation of why they unicycling requirement was dropped.

I must say, though, that I am surprised that a school in Ohio rather than, say, California had such a requirement!