United States Bicycling Hall of Fame
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The outside of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame.
An exhibit at the Hall of Fame.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame occupies an 8,000 square foot building in in downtown Davis. The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame preserves and expresses the rich history of American cycling that spans from the champions of the 1880’s to today’s best athletes. It also recognizes all varieties within the sport of cycling including road, track, cyclocross, BMX, and mountain biking. Inductees include legends such as Greg LeMond, Juliana Furtado, Nelson Vails, Frank Kramer, Cheri Elliott, Alf Goullet, and Connie Carpenter-Phinney.
During the early 20th century, bicycle racing was a more popular spectator sport than baseball. Successful cyclists such as Frank Kramer and Major Taylor earned more than the highest paid baseball players of their day, like Ty Cobb. Six-day races ran around-the-clock to sold out crowds and head-to-head racing filled venues to their capacity in urban cities. The U.S. has been a major player in the cycling movement since the invention of the first bicycle — from the world’s first mountain bike races held in California to its present-day success on the Olympic stage.
For more information about how cycling provided mobility for 19th century women, click on the link to an article about early feminist Frances Willard and cycling at the bottom of this entry.