Bobby Walthour
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Robert Howe Walthour Sr. (1 January 1878 – 1 September 1949) was one of the best American professional cyclists of his era.
Career summary
Bobby Walthour started his career as a sprinter and developed into a formidable six-day rider, but achieved his greatest fame as a fearless motor-pacer. Walthour turned professional in 1896. He won America’s greatest race, the six-day race inside Madison Square Garden, with his partner, Canadian Archie McEachern, in 1901. Walthour again won at the Garden in 1903 with fellow American southerner Bennie Munroe. In 1902 and 1903 Walthour won American motor-paced championships. Walthour won the motor-pacing World Championships in 1904 in London and in 1905 in Brussels. Walthour’s cycling career continued until the early 1920s.
Beginnings
Walthour learned to ride a bike in the early 1890s just about the time when the
Professional career
Walthour quickly developed into a good professional
In the United States, Walthour raced indoors and outdoors on highly banked wooden surface or cement
and Walthour rode on them all.After several years of offers to ride in Europe, Walthour finally went in 1904. He arrived in
By 1904, over a dozen motor-pacing professionals, including some of the best in the world, had been killed from high speed crashes. Although Walthour had been lucky enough to avoid serious injury, he had seen several of his cohorts carried out on stretchers. In 1907, the dangers of motor-pacing caught up to Walthour and he was nearly killed twice. Though Walthour had some success after 1907, his career was never the same. He finished his career with a litany of broken ribs, broken collar bones, broken fingers and dozens of concussions.[1]
Retirement and death
Walthour spent most of his retirement years living in New Jersey. Walthour had distanced himself from his son, Robert Howe Walthour Jr., over a religious squabble and the two rarely spoke. Bobby Walthour Jr. became a great cycling champion in his own right in the 1920s and 1930s.
Walthour Sr. died in Boston at the age of 71.
References
- Nye, Peter (1988). Hearts of Lions: The History of American Bicycle Racing. WW. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-02543-8
- Andrew M. Homan (2011): Life in the Slipstream. The Legend of Bobby Walthour Sr. ISBN 978-1-59797-685-5
Notes
- ^ Atlanta Journal, May 27, 1904
External links
- Bob Walthour sr at Cycling Archives