Bike Tart
alwaysriding
In the closing years of the 19th century, bicycle racing was enduring a torrid time. Due in no small part to the lobbying of pedestrians, horse riders and sporadic race disruption by the police themselves, the racing of bicycles on public roads was banned by the National Cyclist's Union for fear that if racing were to continue, all cycling would in fact be banned. The cycling historian Bernard Thompson said of this period: "Events organised by clubs in the 1880s, although taking place on quiet country roads, were constantly interrupted by the police. Often horse-mounted policemen charged at racers and threw sticks into their wheels."
For any self respecting Britisher with a natural wariness of the law, this was not a situation to be tolerated, and so, independently minded cyclists began to organise covert cycle events, who's very existence was shrouded in code; thus spawning the modern day time trial as we know it.
In order to prevent inquisitive pedestrians from determining that an event was in progress, races started at the crack of dawn, with all participants encouraged to dress in black from head to foot in order to maintain a low profile and prevent unwanted attention. Pre-war, a black Alpaca jacket was obligatory, but this requirement was dropped in later years, perhaps in recognition of the difficulty involved in swapping ration tickets for clothing.
It was during this clandestine period that we can first see the emergence of this in 'all black' style, and whether they wore wool cycling shorts, longs or long sleeve jackets, these brave cyclists, whilst they certainly didn't know it at the time, were forging a whole new look that would come to influence cycle clothing makers far into the future.
A trip to the the highly informative Cotswold Cycling website details club members of the 1930's wearing typically black garments, like continental training sweaters as advertised in the cycling publications of the day, and button up jackets as seen in this early club photo.
In many ways then, certain items of bicycle apparel are direct descendants of the choices of these early innovators. An Always Riding customer recently pointed out that the Muxu Merino Wool Jumper bears a distinct resemblance to the pre-war Alpaca jackets, whilst the Ibex Merino cycling shorts, notably the Duo and Arrivee models are modern equivalents of their coarser early cousins.
For cycling it seems, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
With thanks to Classic Lightweights for histrorical guidance
