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About Us

“The mission of Soul City Cycling is to promote good health through cycling while fostering diversity, unity, and camaraderie among cyclists within our communities.”

Established in August of 2021, Soul City Cycling – Major Taylor Cycling Club is dedicated to making each ride safe, fun, and a learning experience. We do this to honor Marshall “Major” Taylor, who on August 10, 1899, won the world 1-mile championship in Montreal to become the second black world champion athlete, following boxer George Dixon. Continuing his winning tradition, Major Taylor went on to win the American sprint championship in September 1900.

About Major Taylor

American bicycle racer Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (1878-1932) was the world’s first black sports superstar. He was world cycling champion in 1899, American sprint champion in 1900, and set numerous track cycling records. Nicknamed “Major” in his youth in Indianapolis and later known as “the Worcester Whirlwind” after his adopted hometown in Massachusetts, he was the second African American world champion in any sport (after Canadian-born bantamweight boxer George Dixon of Boston won his title in 1891). In the Jim Crow era of strict racial segregation, Taylor had to fight prejudice just to get on the starting line. He faced closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity. In his retirement he wrote his autobiography, “The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.”

Source: https://www.majortaylorassociation.org/who.shtml

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