A new use for spokes

On 17 Sep 2007 06:35:12 GMT, wrote:

[snip]

Just a good place to post this find in the free NYT archives . . .

Two years before he did just over 60 mph behind a train, Charles
Murphy did a mile in 60.8 seconds down 22nd Avenue in Brooklyn,
initially paced by a sextet tandem, but actually pulling ahead of the
pacer near the finish line because he had a tailwind estimated at
40-45 mph.

Obviously, the 40-45 mph tail wind wasn't pushing Murphy to 59 mph.
That is, he had to pedal to supply the difference in speed.

The article notes that another rider, Charles Earle, had used the same
stretch of Brooklyn road for an earlier mile record attempt.

Apparently, Murphy and his sextet used bare pedals, with the sextet
complaining that it was hard to keep their feet on the pedals at high
rpm and general opinion holding that Murphy was remarkable for his
ability to stay on the pedals at an outlandish cadence.

There are even details about how the devil such events were timed back
in 1897.

Before you plunge into the article, here are a few calculations based
on 28" tires at 2152 mm (common speedometer setting for 700B tires)
and 175 mm cranks (as good a guess as any for what Murphy and the
sextet used):

1 mile / 60.8 seconds = 59.21 mph (Murphy)
1 mile / 79.6 seconds = 45.23 mph (Earle)
117 gear-inches for 28-inch = 169.7 rpm @ 59.21 mph (sextet)
pedal speed = 6.96 mph (sextet)
96 gear-inches for 28-inch = 206.6 rpm @ 59.21 mph (Murphy)
(pedal speed = 8.47 mph) (Murphy)

Two years later, Murphy used a bicycle geared up from 96 to 112 inches
behind a train and did his famous mile in 57.8 seconds, averaging
62.28 mph at 186.7 rpm:

http://arrts-arrchives.com/mmm.html

Here's the NYT article:

"News for the Wheelman"

Sunday November 14th, 1897

Bicycle racing men discussed little else yesterday than the feat of
Charles Murphy of the Kings County Wheelmen, who is credited with
riding a genuine mile Friday afternoon in 1:00 4-5, on Twenty-second
Avenue, from Eightieth to Sixtieth Street, Brooklyn. Added information
on the ride, which is the fastest ever ridden for the disatnce, so far
as is known, leaves little doubt of its genuiness. The course was
called short when Charles Earle covered a mile over it in 1:29 3-5,
but several surveyors made affidavits that it was not only a full mile
long, but ten feet over a mile.

Earle's feat was probably greater, as Murphy was assisted by a gale
blowing at an estimated rate of forty or forty-five miles an hour. The
pace was given by a sextet built for the Kings County Wheelmen, geared
to 117. Even at that gear the riders complained after the ride that
they had difficulty keeping their feet on the pedals. Murphy's wheel
was geared to 96. The timers were Walter K. Sibley of the South
Brooklyn Wheelmen, a professional race, and R.D. Streeter of the Logan
Wheelmen at the start, and Walter H. Owen, a professional racer of the
South Brooklyns, and T.W. Post of the Quill Club Wheelmen at the
finish. The watches were compared at the start and found to be set
alike. At the finish one watch registered 0:59 4-5.

Murphy is said to have sprinted ahead of the sextet at the finish, and
gained 200 yards on it before passing the line. At the end of his ride
he was ridden out, but soon recovered and rode back to the clubhouse.
He will make application to the Century Road Club of America to have
the record accepted, although all its rules were not complied with.
Murphy has been on the cycle track a number of years, and it is
claimed he has raced longer without laying off than any other cycle
racer. One of the characteristics of his riding has been his ability
to keep his pedals.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...9D94 669ED7CF

Cheers,

Carl Fogel