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On 21 July 1894 during a timed race on the North Road, then the main road north out of London, in which 50 riders competed with the help of other riders to pace them. A group of riders passed a woman and her horse and carriage at a point about 57 miles from the capital. The horse panicked, the riders fell off and the woman complained to the local police. They in turn banned cycle-racing on their roads."
There was a threat to ban all cycling on public with legislation put before parliament. In responce the National Cyclist's Union banned all road racing on roads. Racing mostly moved to a rig of newly built velodromes.
But hardened races defied both the NCU and the police by contnuing to race on roads. Foremost among these was Albert Chase who held every safety bike record from 51 Miles to 134 miles. In June 1896 Albert set a world record for 50 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes & 38 seconds.
He also had an impressive range of fines from police courts around the country. The going rate was around 5 shillings. Only 25p now but a tidy sum in Victorian times.
He also dominated off road. Amongst his many victories he had these notable ones at the Anerley's local venue:
- June 1899 – England 'world record' for standing half mile of 54 seconds.
- July 1899 – World Record at Crystal Palace for 2 miles, in 3 minutes 25.2 seconds.
- August 1900 – World Record at Crystal Palace.
In 1902 Albert retired from unpowered cycling to join FW Chase to form Chase Brothers Motorcycles Ltd in Anerley. He went on to patent an exhaust silencer. The company folded in 1906 with no known examples in existence today. See: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Chase_Motors
MOTORCYCLES OF THE PAST: THE BAT
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