John William Stocks was one of the early

bicycle stars, riding an Ariel cycle with a team

of Dunlop professional cyclists on a series of

quintuplets pacing him to achieve 32 miles

and 448 yards in one hour in 1897 on a track at

Crystal Palace in London. Stocks was stopped

for speeding on the Great North Road in 1899

in an Ariel motorised tricycle, ironically

probably going slower than he did around the

cycle track as the 1¾ horsepower Ariel

would have been starting to run out of legs

before it reached 30 mph!

The motorbike, however, was to change the
way that high-speed pacing worked. As more
powerful engines were developed, motorbikes

became faster and motor pacing developed

into a huge spectator sport in both Europe and

America. By 1903 cyclists like Bobby Walthour

were racing behind motorbikes at speeds of

over 60 mph. The motorbikes were specially

designed so that the rider sat right back over

the rear wheel, with the handlebars on long

extensions to allow him to steer the thing.

Sitting that far back, and sitting bolt upright,

he provided the windbreak for the cyclist

pounding away at the pedals just inches behind

him. Some pacing machines had two riders,

one crouched low over the handlebars to steer

the bike and the other perched high over the

rear wheel, controlling the engine.

It wasn’t record motor pacing record attempts

that the crowds flocked to see, but actual

races with motorbike-and-cyclist teams

pitted against each other on the same track

at the same time. It was thrilling stuff to

watch, mainly, as in all sports where there’s

an element of danger involved, because if it

all went pear-shaped and somebody came

a cropper he might not live to tell the tale.

Bobby Walthour was American Motor Pacing

Champion in 1903 when he was invited to

Top: James Moore (right),
winner of the 1869 Paris-
Rouen race, pictured with
the runner-up Jean-
Eugene-Andre Castera.

Bottom: The 1839

MacMillan bicycle was

driven by levers rather

than a chain.

DISCOVErING THE WOrLD OF MOTOr PACING    17