Page:The fastest bicycle rider in the world - 1928 - Taylor.djvu/117

 Taylor into a pocket, and in the back stretch he was obliged to pick his way through the field as they went into the home stretch. Taylor gave up trying to get through on the pole and bolted for the outside. Once around the bunch he jumped with a terrific sprint defeating Tom Butler quite easily, who in turn had a half wheel on McCarthy who finished third.

“Taylor received a flattering ovation at the closing of this race, the 18,000 people present apparently fully appreciating the wonderful work done by this colored star in winning the world’s one-mile championship honors and the two-mile open event in the same afternoon. Incidentally, the writer believes Major Taylor also won the half-mile open professional race yesterday with Charlie McCarthy second, but the officials gave Taylor a shabby deal, and decided that McCarthy won with Taylor in second place, although the crowd shouted its disapproval of the award in no uncertain way.”

The following compliment paid me by the Secretary of the International Cyclist Association seems to offset that bitter attack of the sporting writer who criticized me so unjustly for refusing to ride a match race without a purse. From a Montreal daily:

“He is A Good Man. Major Taylor is appreciated by Henry Strummey. Among the thousands of friends he has made during his career, Major Taylor, the World’s Professional Champion Cyclist, has no more enthusiastic admirer than Mr. Henry Strummey, the honorable secretary of the I. C. A. In a recent article upon the famous cyclist at the L. A. W. International Championship races at Montreal last month, Secretary Strummey paid this splendid tribute to the Worcester boy.

“ ‘He is a non-smoker, a teetotaller, and a clean-living fellow. He is right at home on any kind of a track and clever at trick riding. Major Taylor, of the United States, is a most dangerous opponent at any stage of bicycle racing. Many of the American cracks soon become jealous of him, and did all in their power to have him barred from all racing, but the Major was a hard man to fight against, and despite the deal set against him, he trained on and appeared where possible, and thanks to his great perseverance, he has now gained the proud title of the One-Mile World’s Professional Champion.

“ ‘His specialty, like Burrillion, is in his marvelous jump, and he is from three to four seconds faster off the mark than any other American rider. He has met and defeated every rider of note in the United States, and can he backed to ride any rider in the world, but he does not care to visit Europe, as all the principal races there are held on Sunday. There is no doubt that the secret of his great success is due to the careful manner in which he trains, and the careful manner in which he lives when not in training.’ ”