CHAPTER XXVI
AN UNPARALLELED FEAT—THE ONE-MILE WORLD’S PACED RECORD
As I settled down to what I thought was going to be six months of rest after my strenuous season on the bicycle tracks of the country I received a wire to come to Chicago forthwith to attempt to lower my world’s record of 1:22 2/5 behind motor pace. It came from Mr. Harry Sager the inventor of the Sager gear, which was used on the bicycle I was riding at the time. He informed me that one of my great rivals, Eddie McDuffee of Boston, was camping at Garfield Park, Chicago, with the avowed intention of breaking my world’s record which I had established on the self-same track a few months previous.
McDuffee was provided with a steam motor pacing machine which he had designed himself and which had been built by the Stanley Steamer Company of Newton, Massachusetts. It was constructed especially for this assault by McDuffee on my record. After weeks of effort McDuffee clipped 1 2/5 seconds off my world’s record of 1:22 2/5.
Meantime, my motor pacing machine, which was an exact duplicate of McDuffee’s, arrived at Garfield Park, and I set out to lower McDuffee’s newly established record for the mile. Incidentally, I had set my mind upon turning the mile under 1:20, which feat had never before been accomplished. Since McDuffee was bent upon doing the same thing, the rivalry between us grew to white heat.
After many trials and tribulations extending for a period of six weeks I reached the climax of my fondest ambition—riding the mile behind motor pace under 1:20. I was just one second lower than that mark and the newspapers of the country heralded the feat with first page stories. My mark of 1:19 clipped 2 seconds off McDuffee’s time which was but a few days old when I cracked it.
Extract from a Chicago newspaper:
“Major Taylor in Chicago, Champion Cyclist comes here to lower the World’s One-mile Motor Pace Record. Major Taylor, champion cyclist of the world, arrived in Chicago today to defend his one-mile pace record of 1:22 2/5 which is threatened by Eddie McDuffee, who came here a week ago for the express purpose of putting the mark well inside 1:20. Major Taylor brought with him his famous steam motor tandem, which is working 50 per cent better than when he lowered the record several months ago on the same track. The fault of this slowing down in the last quarter mile has been remedied.
