Born on this date, Nov. 26, 1878: Marshall "Major" Taylor, aka the Worcester Whirlwind, 1889 world champion cyclist, author of "The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World." Grateful to Alex from @massbike.bsky.social at Worcester Public Library for the glow-up.

Our amazing speaker last night from the Major Taylor Association, plus one of the many Major Taylor fans who came out to hear her! Thank you, Lynne, and thank you, Guy for coming to experience the Bay State Major Taylor experience!

The true story of the Worcester Whirlwind, next Thursday in Fitchburg www.majortaylorassociation.org/events.shtml

Worth a listen: "The Fastest Man You Never Knew" -- this week's Monday Monologue (9 minutes) and Thursday Thread (13 minutes) by Michael Washington Brown at echoesinthefirstperson.com

Exciting news from Michigan! 🎉 Thanks to Marco Speeks (Founder of Major Taylor Michigan Cycling Advocacy, LMB Board Member & LCI), Gov. Whitmer has proclaimed Sept 15, 2025 as Major Taylor Day — the first state to do so! Read Marco’s story ➡️ bikeleague.org/lci-spotligh... #MajorTaylorDay

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

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.

"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...

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.

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...

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

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

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.)

#OTD Feb. 13, 1903 - Major Taylor was on tour in Australia, accompanied by his wife, Daisy. He was the chief attraction at bike races in Melbourne on Valentine's Day. 💞

#OTD Feb. 10, 1900 "Go to Europe, Major, and show the world that you are without a peer," Black paper 📰 The Freeman urges world champion Major Taylor. The next winter Taylor negotiated an overseas contract for 1901 with his key clause: No racing on Sundays majortaylorassociation.org/ReadexReport...

Rescheduled to 7pm Wednesday, Feb. 12. No spoilers, but we bet Fitchburg's rich bicycling history will come up.

No spoilers, but we bet Fitchburg's rich bicycling history will come up.

#OTD Jan. 24, 1900 - World champion cyclist Major Taylor bought a house in Worcester’s upscale Columbus Park for $2850, cash. White neighbors were alarmed and offered to buy it back from him for $4850. Taylor refused. “Property values did not plunge.” www.majortaylorassociation.org/neighborhood...

Passing the baton to Seven Hills Wheelmen members Seth Popinchalk & Bryon Sweeney, new coordinators of the George Street Bike Challenge for Major Taylor. Greg Affsa from Landry's Bicycles stays on as race director of the hill climb, set for July 27. And Lynne is still Major Taylor Assn. president.

#OTD Jan. 14, 1898 -- Major Taylor wrote "Embraced Religion" beneath lines of Scripture in his pocket diary, affirming the faith that shaped his identity & bike racing career. He refused to work on the Sabbath, turning down big $$ to race abroad - until he got "no Sundays" in his contract in 1901.

#OTD Jan. 3, 1903 – Major Taylor’s 1st race of the year. The meet at Sydney Cricket Ground drew the largest bike-racing crowd ever in Australia, > 20,000. Taylor won a ¼-mile race but lost a 5-mile contest to Aussie champion Don Walker. In the ½-mile race, Taylor did not advance to the final heat.

#OTD Jan. 1, 1904 - Major Taylor's 1st race of the season in Australia. The 4 finalists in the ½-mile got a do-over after interference against Taylor. But culprits Lawson & MacFarland refused to start, so it was just Taylor vs. Aussie champ Don Walker - ending in a dead heat 📷 Indiana State Museum

#OTD Dec. 26, 1926 - Old-school crowdfunding success: $1138 raised for ailing Major Taylor in Christmastime appeal. (That's about $20K in today's dollars.)

#OTD Christmas Eve 1904 - Major Taylor, at home in Worcester, received his prize money from the Sydney Thousand, a bike race held the previous March in Australia. That $500 would be worth nearly $18K today.

🏆Lucas Brunelle's 2020 film about Leo Rodgers, who draws inspiration from Major Taylor. One of the "greatest hits" of the past 25 years, now streaming at Bicycle Film Festival 2024-2025, program #2 (Urban Bike Shorts) btt.boldtypetickets.com/events/16165...

#OTD On this day, Dec. 18, 1926 - Worcester Telegram reports that donations are pouring in to xmastime appeal for ailing ex-champion Major Taylor, age 48, who had won many bike races "against the bitterest of competition."

Big news on this date #OTD Dec. 17, 1900: Major Taylor's most significant career move. Now that he was world champ, he could call the shots, and he got his key provision - no racing on Sundays - in a deal to race in Europe in 1901. (The actual contract signing came after this premature 📰 report.)

#OTD On this day, Dec. 14, 1896 - Major Taylor collects $125 for finishing the six-day bike race at Madison Square Garden in 8th place. He'd also won $200 for beating Eddie Bald in a half-mile curtain-raiser (exhibition race preceding the six-day start). 📰 @brooklyneagle.bsky.social

#OTD Dec. 13, 1896 - Teddy Hale* won the six-day bike race at Madison Square Garden. 18-year-old rookie Major Taylor finished 8th, with a record-breaking 1732 miles & a sore, swollen knee. - 📰 @brooklyneagle.bsky.social * an Englishman masquerading as Irish, according to @fmk.bsky.social

Wind the clock back to 1896 and in New York City the Madison Square Garden International Six Day Race was into its final 24 hours.

On this day, Dec. 12, 1896 - Going into the last day of the six-day bike race at Madison Square Garden, Major Taylor has a nap on his bike, a contest with Burns Pierce, and a spill. 📰 brooklyneagle.bsky.social 📷 spfldmuseums.bsky.social

On this day Dec. 11, 1896 - Major Taylor had some fun at the six-day bike race at Madison Square Garden - @brooklyneagle.bsky.social