CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — This weekend, a 30-mile bike ride on the South Side will honor America’s first Black national sports hero: Marshall “Major” Taylor.
The ride will take place Saturday, on the Major Taylor Trail, which runs south from the Dan Ryan Woods to the Whistler Woods. It’s the only trail dedicated to Taylor's memory.
“He’s best known for being the fastest man alive on a bike,” said Dr. Brenda M. Dixon, with the Major Taylor Trail Keepers.
In 1897, Dixon said Taylor joined America’s first racially integrated professional sports team, the Boston Pursuit.
Two years later, Taylor raced his bike and won the Montreal World Championship. The victory made him the first Black American to win a cycling world title. Three years later, he entered 57 races in the European Tour — of which he won 40. Over the course of his career, Taylor broke several world speed records.
“All of our great ‘first’ athletes, they all stand on his shoulders,” said Dixon.
Taylor was a man of principle, Dixon added. She said long before Colin Kaepernick took a knee, Taylor refused to race on Sunday’s due to a promise that he made to his mother. When his white teammates were given better accommodations while on the road, he took the first train home and refused to pay the ensuing fine for missing the race.
“Quite a remarkable man,” she said. “He did so much more for us than just being the fastest man.”
Taylor was still breaking records in 1908, when he was 30 years old. He retired a few years later at the age of 32. Although Taylor earned an estimated $35,000 during his peak years — equivalent to more than $1 million in 2023 — Dixon said he lost all of his fortune over the next 20 years.
In 1932 Taylor died in Chicago and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Fifteen years later, his remains were relocated to Mt. Glenwood Memory Gardens South, thanks to an effort by Schwinn, which was then based in Illinois.
The South Side trail was named for Taylor in the early 2000s.
This Saturday, the Major Taylor Trail Keepers annual Celebration Ride will mark the 124th anniversary of Taylor’s big win in Montreal. A $35 buy-in will get cyclists a place in the ride, plus barbecue lunch from JerkMan Catering.
The Celebration Ride is open to cyclists of all experience levels, and the event also serves as a fundraiser for the trail’s upkeep and improvement.
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