The Washington herald., 1920-03-13
nine VICTORIES
IN BIKE RACES
Georget, French Rider,
Establishes New Mark
For 24-Hour Grind.

Winning a 24-hour tandem paced
bicycle race nine times running Is
a feat well worthy of mention.
Leon Georget. a well known French
rider. has recently accomplished
that feat in Paris. The event was
staged on the indoor track at the
Velodrome d'Hiver. In the "a hours
Georget rode the remarkable dis
tance of 574 1-2 miles, at an aver
age speed OF nearly "a miles per
hour. Marcel Godivier finished sec
ond. and Edward Leonard took third
place.
These around -the-clock long dis
tance races and time trials have
Plways been more popular in Eu-
rope than in our own country, al
though American racing men went
in for this form of endurance speed
riding to a considerable extent
some years ago. The standing
American 24-hour record Is credited
to John Lawson, who covered 52s
miles e25 yards at Los Angeles
in June, 1900. Lawson was paced
by motorcycles while Georget was
paced by riders on tandem bicycles.
which makes his a much more
CreultdDIe performance.
First Attempt I'm 1870.
According to w. T. Farwell. jr.. OF
the Cycle Trades of America, who
has complete track and road racing
records dating back to the very
beginning of bicycle racing in the
late SOS. the earliest attempt at
the 24-hour record was made in
England in 1870 by F. V. T. Honey
well. Them achine ridden by Honey
well was of the ancient Boneshaker
type then in vogue. and there were
no pacemakers. This racer covered
105 miles on the road within the "a
hours.
The next attempt. made by w.
Britten in 1873, indicated big
advance in bicycle construction and
speed riding. and resulted in boost
ing the record 107 miles. Britten
rode from London to Bath and re-
turn. 213 miles within "a hours. In
1884 w. F. sutton hung up a new
24-hour road record of ESQ "a miles.
and in 1887 A. A. McCurdy. an
American. covered 3O5 miles on the
roads about Boston. Several other
creditable American 2i-hour rec
ords closely approaching the latter
figure were hung up during the late
SOS. and there was considerable in
terest manifested in long distance
racing and time trials.
All of the above records were
made on the road and on the now
obsolete high bicycle shod with
solid tires. With the introduction
of the modern type Of machine and
the pneumatic tire about 1890 all
records took a big jump. Late In
1891 Montague Holbien. an Eng
Iishman. rode sol miles 1866 yards
in "a hours. This record was made
on 4 track with pacernakers. In
June. 1892. Holbien's record was
smashed by Frank Waller. n well
known American rider at that time.
who covered 1863 miles 1890 yards
on track at Los Angeles. But
these figures lasted only month.
for on July S of the same year F.
Ed. Spooner ode 374 miles 1866
yards in the full day on the Park
side track at Chicago.
SpooneT's record. however. lasted
even less than a month. On July %
a big 24-hour race took place on
one of the London tracks and all
existing records went by the board.
F. w. Shorthand. the winner. covered
distance of Alb miles 1915 yards.
From tha: time rn the figures were
boosted year by year by American
and European riders. I.atterly the
Frenchmen have held on to the 81.
hour houors.