Frederick Thomas Bidlake (1867-1933)

Het is vandaag negentig jaar geleden dat de Engelse wielrenner Frederick Thomas Bidlake (rechts op de foto) is gestorven.

Frederick Thomas Bidlake (1867-1933) was an English racing cyclist of the late 19th century who became one of the most notable administrators of British road bicycle racing during the early 20th century. Bidlake favoured the tricycle, although even Alan Alexander Milne wrote in the Cambridge magazine “The Granta”: “When young, try a bike, when old, buy a trike”.  Still Bidlake was winning championships and setting national records, often beating bicycle riders. In 1893, he set a 24-hour tricycle record of 410 miles (660 km) at Herne Hill velodrome in south London. It still stood when he died. As a member of the North Road Cycling Club, he helped organise a rebel individual time trial, on 5 October 1895, at a time when the National Cyclists’ Union had banned racing on roads. It was to become the first individual time trial on public roads.