Page 17 - Bidlake Booklet
P. 17
his county.
on the road.
and the pacers.
a 50-mile race,
classic distances,
was even a race:
early winter’s day,
men were sent off first,
the 50,

racing at the shorter distances,
the 100,
constables chose to follow this policy,
This was an inspired solution,


sight of a crowd of cyclists “riding furiously”
cyclists were at fault for their “furious riding.”
Some structure had to be found to allow genuine,
say up to ten miles,
with the victory going to the man with the fastest time.
race would in a very real sense be private and invisible.
with a cold wind and non-stop rain,
Gordon Minns in a time of 2:56:26.To avoid bunching,

the 12-hour and the 24-hour,

Bidlake went to see him and gave his version of events,
was all very well,
Bidlake’s novel solution was to make the race into a solo effort,
Bidlake recognised that the situation was no longer merely serious,






promoted naturally by the North Road CC.There were 22 starters,
it was critical.
reversing later practice.A new era of bike-racing had begun in Britain,
which was central to Bidlake’s plan,
In this way much of the opposition to road racing would be instantly disarmed,
ceived the idea of the competitors riding in turn, at set intervals, against the clock over the same course,
all competitive riding on the road faced possible extinction.Track
Perhaps it was his legal mind that also suggested
and the first event run on these lines took place in October 1895,
to him the idea that neither the police nor any other opponent of racing would be able to prove that this
but very
to get rid of the bunch element
If other chief
The Unfinished Story
but what had already become the
competitive tests of endurance cycling to take place
would become a thing of the past.To achieve this he con-
all cried out to be run on open roads.
few people seem to have noticed.This momentous event was reported in the cycling press in just two
so that only six men finished.The winner was
as the
but the man was adamant that the
it was merely a succession of individuals riding alone along any particular road.The
the fast
but it was a vile
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