Major Taylor Association

Tidying up -- and pedaling up -- our favorite hill in preparation for the George Street Bike Challenge on Sunday. sevenhillswheelmen.org/george-stree...

George Street Bike Challenge remains a 'Major' proving ground for cycling enthusiasts This year's George Street Bike Challenge will be held July 27. Rider check-in opens at 8:30 a.m. that morning outside Garden Fresh Courthouse Cafe.

This Sunday! One rider at a time against the clock. www.telegram.com/story/entert... @victorinfante.bsky.social

George Street Bike Challenge for Major Taylor is this Sunday. Register at www.bikereg.com/george-stree...

"Any bicyclist who could climb George Street hill ... had the makings of a high grade bicycle racer." - Major Taylor on the challenge he took when he moved to Worcester in 1895.

Local Event: George St. Challenge and Bicycle Festival Check out the latest community post from one of your neighbors. (The views expressed in this post are the author’s own.)

"It was a tough assignment that I wished on myself," Major Taylor wrote in his autobiography, "but I made it on the first attempt." patch.com/massachusett...

Now 59 reps have signed on. Thank you, Mike Thompson @mikethompson.house.gov, Eric Swalwell @repswalwelleric.bsky.social, and Bennie Thompson

Congratulations to Greg LeMond on receiving a Congressional Gold Medal.

Here he is in 2008, standing at the feet of a cycling legend from another era, with members of Major Taylor's family, leaders of our org, and track star Edwin Moses. (Photo by Christine Peterson/ Worcester Telegram & Gazette)

8 more cosponsors signed on last week to the bill seeking a Congressional Gold Medal for Major Taylor. Thank you, @keating.house.gov, @repyvetteclarke.bsky.social, @reppaultonko.bsky.social, @repritchie.bsky.social, @repcohen.bsky.social, and Reps. Himes, Fitzpatrick and Lawler.

Now 56 reps have signed on. Thank you, @keating.house.gov, @repyvetteclarke.bsky.social, @reppaultonko.bsky.social, @repritchie.bsky.social, @repcohen.bsky.social, Rep. Fitzpatrick, Rep. Himes and Rep. Lawler.

Take the challenge like Major Taylor did in 1895. One rider at a time against the clock, up a short, steep hill in Worcester. Register at www.bikereg.com/george-stree...

See how fast you can pedal up George Street, a steep Worcester hill that future world champion cyclist Major Taylor conquered as a teenager. Register at www.bikereg.com/george-stree...

Now 48 cosponsors. Thank you for signing on, Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) @chuygarcia.house.gov and Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) @repdwightevans.bsky.social

You can do it!
www.bikereg.com/george-stree...

bicyclist riding up hill

See how fast you can pedal up a short, steep hill in Worcester, MA, where rising star Major Taylor made his mark in 1895. Register at www.bikereg.com/george-stree...

Persevering like Major Taylor, Rep. Jonathan Jackson has reintroduced the bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to Major Taylor

Another RISE mentorship group at USA BMX Foundation gets a motivational visit from our friend Kevinn Matthews of the Major Taylor Tulsa Project, plus Major Taylor posters featuring James Ransome artwork. RISE stands for resiliency, inclusion, social awareness, and education.

"Major Taylor: Champion of the Race" cleaned up at the Great Lakes Emmy Awards last night in Indy: best documentary, best writer, best director, best composer. Congrats to writer/director/producer Todd Gould & composer Tyron Cooper @wtiu.bsky.social

Watch the film:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzDn...

#OTD June 21, 1932, Major Taylor, once one of the wealthiest black men in America, died penniless in a Chicago hospital charity ward. This photo ran with his obituary in the Chicago Defender

Worcester County Wonders in today's Sunday Telegram www.telegram.com/story/lifest...

Illustrated talk on Major Taylor, the Worcester Whirlwind, 6:30 pm Wednesday, June 4, @beamanlibrary.bsky.social
wbhistory.org/programs

That's what bike shoes looked like back then.
1898 photo of Major Taylor by George H. Van Norman

Look who's on the cover of @newyorker.com. Painting by @kadirnelson.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/culture/cove...
Limited edition prints store.kadirnelson.com/product/majo...

Gina B from our board will take part in Community Documentary Night's online discussion of "Bike Vessel" at 7 pm EDT Sunday. It's about a father-son bike journey & reimagining Black health. Watch free anytime: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpOL...
RSVP to join the convo: www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-do...

4-5:30 pm Saturday at the West End Museum in Boston, an exploration of the legacies of two pioneering Black cyclists and how their stories are being brought to life in theater and film. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/major-tayl... @patrickgabridge.bsky.social

It's officially Bike Month. "Whereas ... Marshall 'Major' Taylor ..."

#OTD April 22, 1901 - Major Taylor beat 21-year-old Belgian champion Louis Grogna & French rider Paul Dangla in the 1000-meter final of the Grande Internationale, in front of a crowd of 8,000 in Roubaix, France.
L'Auto-Velo: "An impressive victory"
📘 Andrew Ritchie

Bike Month spotlight @nationallanding.bsky.social nationallanding.org/post/bike-mo...
@wtiu.bsky.social @pbs.org "Major Taylor: Champion of the Race" FREE documentary film screening May 6 at @alamodrafthouse.bsky.social Crystal City, Arlington, VA nationallanding.org/do/major-tay...

#OTD March 25, 1902 - Booker T. Washington took some of his students in New York to see champion cyclist Major Taylor before the star athlete boarded an ocean liner for his second racing season in Europe.

#OTD On this date: March 21, 1902 - Champion bicyclist Marshall "Major" Taylor married Daisy Victoria Morris in this house in Ansonia, Connecticut.
(house 📷 courtesy of local historian Marian K. O'Keefe)

#OTD March 13, 1901 - Word reaches Worcester of Major Taylor’s arrival in France. Top 🇺🇸 bicycle racer is "in fine trim" and “absolutely confident” he will defeat 🇫🇷 champion Edmond Jacquelin. 📰 Hometown newspaper learns Taylor is getting $3300 for 8 races + 8 exhibitions in Europe (no Sundays).

#OTD March 11, 1900 - The New York World 📰 reports world champion cyclist Major Taylor turned down a $10K offer to compete in Europe because he won't race on Sundays. As a devout Baptist, he refused to work on the Sabbath. (In 1901, he was able to negotiate a Europe deal w/ no Sunday races.)