Bike to Work Week

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 13, the topic of the Brown Bag History talk will be "Biking & Hiking" to mark "Bike to Work Week." I couldn't find quite enough information just on biking, so added in the extra topic of hiking. I will talk a little bit about early mountaineering in the Selkirks, but I won't delve into that too deeply, because it warrants a talk of its own on another occasion.

I did find a few interesting bits of information on early biking in Revelstoke. As early as 1896, local entrepreneur William Cowan had built a bicycle track, for racing, in the lower section of town, and by 1897, Eddie Edwards was making a name for himself as a champion bicycle racer. A photograph of him on his bike is currently on display in the front window of the Museum, along with a wooden bicycle wheel rim. This photograph shows two young lads cycling on Front Street, around 1900.

In 1928, a champion bicycle rider, Fred St. Onge, stopped in Revelstoke as part of his North American bicycle tour. He taught bicycle safety to local children, and set up a 150 foot long, 5 inch wide plank for the children to test their bicycle agility. Ten year old Helen Parker managed a world-record total of 2,420 feet on the plank without falling, and she was awarded a gold medal from the CCM Bicycle Company. The medal is now in the collection of Revelstoke Museum & Archives. Helen was the daughter of Phil & Eva (Hobbs) Parker, and it is possible that Helen got her sense of balance from Eva, an experienced mountaineer after whom Eva Lake on Mount Revelstoke is named.

For more information on this topic, or any other aspect of local history, call or drop in to see us.