The 1st 'Safety Bicycle?'
Until the introduction of this type of bicycle, with its diamond-shaped frame and similar-diameter front and rear wheels, cycling was a comparatively risky sport which appealed mainly to the enthusiast. During the 1870s, when cycling first became popular, the standard bicycle was the Ordinary or 'Penny-farthing'. These bicycles had direct, pedal-driven, large front wheels, the rider sat high and was at risk in an accident. They were also unstable and difficult to mount and dismount. By contrast, the diamond-frame bicycle with chain drive to the rear wheel was much lower to the ground and so changed the experience of riding that it became known as the 'safety bicycle'. The Rover safety bicycle was designed by J. K. Starley of Coventry and was first exhibited in London in early 1885.
His design made the bicycle a universal mode of transport and established a basic form which has changed remarkably little since then. By the early 1890s the Ordinary bicycle was obsolete. Cycle-making became concentrated in Birmingham, Coventry and Nottingham, where mass-production techniques had already been applied to the manufacture of textile and sewing machines, clocks, watches and handguns. Output soared and, at the outbreak of the First World War, Britain was a world leader in cycle exports. Many of the cycle companies also went on to become noted motor-vehicle manufacturers.
Kirk WhitemanSport: Tandem Captain for Matt King since 2000
(
USCF Category: Track 1 (elite)
Team:
ICG Communications
Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 190 lbs.
DOB: 10/12/65,
Education: New York Institute of Technology
Occupation: Spinning Instructor
In the fall of 1983, Kirk
Whiteman, while flipping through channels, saw a native New Yorker named Nelson
Vails win a gold medal at the Pan American Games in the sport of cycling. Captivated by the speed and power of these sprinters, Kirk, not long after, realized that cycling was his calling. Not knowing anything of the sport, Kirk did hear that Nelson
Vails was a former NYC bike messenger turned pro bike racer.
Whiteman, like
Vails, started off by getting a messenger’s job in Manhattan, linked up with one of the best amateur cycling teams in the east, and he too has risen through the competitive ranks and has become a champion. Since 1990 Kirk has
medaled at just about every National Championship he has entered.
In 1996, he won his first National Championship in the Tandem Sprints. A year later, he traded in the Stars and Stripes national jersey for the Rainbow colored jersey of a World Champion in the Individual Match Sprint Event at the Masters World Championship in Manchester, England. In 1998, Kirk successfully defended his individual match sprint world championship, he also set a world record and won a gold medal in the Olympic Sprint Event. Kirk’s reign as world champion has been more monumental than just winning.
In 1997, Kirk was the first African-American to win a world sprint title since Major Marshall Taylor in 1899. In 1998, Kirk became the first two time African-American winner of that title in the hundred plus years of cycling. Apart from a brilliant career in cycling, Kirk has been reaching out to the children and athletes in the community. He finds that there is a definite importance to teaching children that there is freedom in discipline when striving to attain their goals.
Competition Highlights:2000 (as of August 20, 2000)
Colorado Tandem Invitational, Colorado Springs, Colo., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
WFMZ Invitational,
Trexlertown, Pa., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
WE Media Tandem Invitational,
Trexlertown, Pa., placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
Good
Shephards Tandemonium at T-Town,
Trexlertown, Pa., placed fourth in the Men's Match Sprints
Elite Track Championships, Frisco, Tex., placed first in the men’s
USABA kilometer..made the 2000
Paralympic Cycling Team which will be going to Sydney, Australia, in October of 2000.
ICG/WE Media Track Series #1, Houston, Texas, placed first in the Men's Match Sprints
1999
Masters World Track Championships’, Manchester, England, placed fourth in the 200 meter time trial, fifth in the match sprint, and fifth in the Olympic Sprint
Masters National Track Championships’, Plano, Tex., placed second in the match sprints, and second in the Olympic Sprint
Senior National Track Championships’,
Trexlertown, Pa., placed sixth in the 200 meter time trial, placed tenth in the match sprint, placed fourth in the Olympic Sprint, and third in the tandem sprint
New York State Track Championships’,
Kissena, NY, won the match sprints, and won the Olympic Sprint
#2 EDS Cup, Plano, Tex., placed sixth in the match sprint, placed ninth in the
keirin, and won six in the Olympic Sprint
Floyd
Bennet Field
Criterium, Brooklyn, NY won sixth place
1998 Masters World Track Championships', Manchester, England, won the match sprints and set a world record and won the Olympic Sprints Masters National Track Championships', Seattle,
Wa., won the match sprints and placed second in the Senior National Track Championships’, Plano, Tex., placed tenth in the match sprint and placed sixth in the Olympic Sprint
Eastern Regional Championships’,
Trexlertown, Pa., won the match sprints and won the
keirinNew York State Track Championships’,
Kissena, NY, won the match sprints
1997Masters World Track Championships’, Manchester England, won the match sprint, won the 200 meter time trial, and placed third in the Olympic Sprint.
Masters National Track Championships’, Houston, Tex., placed second in the match sprint and placed third in the 200 meter time trial
Senior National Track Championships, Colorado Springs, Colo., placed third in the Tandem Sprints, placed sixth in the Olympic Sprint, placed third in the 200 meter time trial, and ninth in the match sprints International Grand
Prix,
Palesco, Trinidad, placed third in the Olympic Sprints and placed third in the one lap scratch New York State Track Championships',
Kissena, NY, won the match sprints
1996Senior National Tandem Sprint Champion, won Tandem Sprints
Some Fool cried about the $3,500 price tag..they would rather ride on something that 10 million other people have...COME ON MAN!
Pictures courtesy of:
Posts
