"Barkers of Branford"-Part III-1890's Bicycle Craze: Far and Wide

The following is an excerpt from the book. It is available for $30 at the Blackstone Library in Branford. Details at www.BarkersOfBranford.com

Bicycle racing became the rage during the 1890’s. From Llewellyn Barker's diary:

“After supper road my bicycle in to see the race between Lanphere & Standard The former won the race from the P.O to 4 corners” 6/12/1893

Velodromes (oval tracks with banked curves) were created all over the country. One of the most famous was at Madison Square Garden (see photo), built in 1878. Top bikers could earn in excess of $100,000 per year on the “Velodrome circuit”. Very popular were high-endurance six-day races. They drew huge crowds.

World-Wide Misadventure

At the same time Llewellyn peddled to Glastonbury, CT, Frank Lenz, also an American, was approaching Calcutta, India on his bike. He had left Pittsburg on May 15, 1892. After riding to both New York and Washington, DC, he traveled across country to San Francisco, biked in Japan, across China, Burma and entered Calcutta, India in October of 1893. He then rode to Persia, Teheran and Tabriz. After he left Iran for Turkey in May of 1894, he was never heard from again. See last photo of him taken in Tabriz, Iran.

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Ted Braun's book “The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through a Local Lens” is available for $30 at the Blackstone Library in Branford. Details at www.BarkersOfBranford.com