Page:The fastest bicycle rider in the world - 1928 - Taylor.djvu/95

 to the front of the bunch with brother Tom on his wheel. I made a quick play and nailed Tom’s rear wheel as I could see they were  relying upon him to defeat me for the big stakes. It was known far and wide that the three Butler Brothers were just about the cleverest combination in regards to team work in the racing world. Thanks to my track generalship I was able to hold my position with that fast field right into the home stretch, and then I cut loose with a great burst of speed that let me break the tape first with several lengths to spare.

There was a tremendous crowd on hand for this special event, the three Butler Brothers being especially popular with the racing fans of their native Boston. Residents of the Hub were well posted in the finer points of the racing game and appreciated full well just how tricky the Butler Brothers were. They were noted throughout the country for their speed and cleverness. With those facts in mind one may well appreciate the ovation that was accorded me for outgeneralling and outsprinting the great trio and the rest of the field in that hectic two-mile race which I won in 4:34.

After a short rest I returned to the track and won the final of the one-mile open race thereby repeating my former successes at Philadelphia and Green Bay when I made bicycle race track history by winning two events on each of those programs, one championship race in each of those meets and the other victories being in open events. Incidentally, I took home $875 as my day’s winnings on the Charles River track on May 30, 1899.

The following is an excerpt from the Boston Post, printed the day after the Charles River meet.

“Major Taylor Triumphs. Proved a Star. Colored Rider Wins Twice in dashing sprints. Wins Two-mile Sweepstake and One-mile Open. Tom Butler easily beaten. Major Taylor proved to be the star of the A. C. C. meet at Charles River Park yesterday afternoon and succeeded in winning every race in which he competed, his winnings amounting to $875. The Butler Brothers, Nat, Tom and Frank took about everything the Major left on the list. A large crowd witnessed the races which were good and lively with exceptionally fine finishes in the two professional events. The weather was perfect and conditions were never better for fast racing except for a heavy wind on the back stretch.

“In both the one-mile open professional and the two-mile A. C. C. sweepstake Major Taylor was on scratch with Nat Butler and won both his heats and finals leaving the other scratch men behind. James J. Casey of Worcester was out on the 120-yard mark in the sweepstakes and ran fourth in the final. The Major raced under difficulties by being compelled to ride a machine geared up to 114 inches.