The Edmonton Cycle Club
The author, in period clothing and a reproduction E.C.C. sweater, poses for a quick snapshot inspired by the two Provincial Archives of Alberta photos included below.
When the Edmonton Cycle Club burst onto the local racing scene in August 1935, they faced two entrenched opponents; the Golden Eagles and the Silver Hawks. Even still they made an impression.
The new club’s first major outing came that Labour Day. In a race to Morinville, E.C.C. member Donald Scotty McCaullum, who moonlighted as a Canadian Pacific Railway’s telegraph dispatcher, managed to “outsped 35 other cyclists to win the 50 miles Edmonton-Morineville and return bicycle race.” He forged “into the lead only two miles from the finishing line” and won “by one second over Norman How, Silver Hawks club.” Following behind in third was “victim of three accidents,” Edward Barker, also of the E.C.C., who led “the field for all but five miles of the return journey.”
The Cycle Club's budding reputation only continued to solidify with win after win. Walter Rutldge, for instance, clenched the Club the Jackson Trophy after a twenty-five mile race that September — he covered the distance in seventy-two minutes despite stubborn wind resistance. Ed Barker, meanwhile, won them the Morrison & Barnes Trophy following a Thanksgiving Day race. “Presentation of the handsome trophy, donated by Morrison and Barnes [Jewellers], was made out at the arena during the half-time interval of the Edmonton Grads-St. Louis Shaw-Stephens basketball game.”
The E.C.C. began sponsoring its own races the following year, with their first major go taking place that Dominion Day. Up for grabs was the Eaton Trophy, “emblematic of the Alberta bike racing championship for the 25-mile distance.” Prior, the Cycle Club, in conjunction with the Silver Hawks, also executed two marathons to Edmonton Beach. “Enthusiasts from other local clubs were out in great numbers as well, so that altogether around eighty pedalists found relaxation from a burning May sun at Barrie’s Summer Resort.”
By 1938, news of the Club’s exploits had made it as far east as Manitoba, and that year the E.C.C. hosted “six husky bike riders from St. Boniface” all “ready for a crack at the Eaton Trophy.” In partnership with the Olympics, another new club, the Edmontonians raced the Bonifaciens down Calgary Trail to Nisku. “The race was run in two classes, ‘A’ and ‘B’, with class ‘A’ starting 15 minutes ahead of the ‘Bs’. Riders in class ‘A’ were senior boys and more experienced [having to] come either first, second, or third in some open competition.” E.C.C. rider Howard Besson, of the B class, “nosed out John L. Bateman of Winnipeg… to take first in a ‘photo’ finish.”
But Edmonton's golden age of cycling was coming to a close. All of the city’s biking clubs were hit hard by the Second World War and one-by-one they folded. In the post-war years some, like the Silver Hawks, returned. The Edmonton Cycle Club wasn’t so lucky. Ex-members and nostalgic fans twice attempted to revive the storied name. The first try came in April 1946, as the club attempted to solicit membership — nothing followed. Leo Campbell, who, in 1941, won the Club’s last ever 100-mile race, tried once more two years later. Again the club solicited membership, and again nothing followed.
With that the E.C.C. entered into the realm of memory. In their wake they left a proud legacy and a slew of local cycling records.
Image Gallery:
Sources:
“D. McCallum In Sensational Bike Triumph,” Edmonton Journal, September 3, 1935.
“Lake Resorts Are Thronged Over Holiday,” Edmonton Bulletin, September 3, 1935.
“Edmonton Cycle Club Road Race Set For Sunday,” Edmonton Bulletin, September 25, 1935.
“Bicycle Racing,” Edmonton Journal, September 26, 1935.
“Walter Rutledge Wins Bike Race,” Edmonton Journal, September 30, 1935.
“Rutledge Wins Bicycling Trophy,” Edmonton Bulletin, September 30, 1935.
“Hurd Wins Bike Race On Sunday,” Edmonton Bulletin, October 7, 1935.
“Plan To Organize Ladies’ Cycle Club,” Edmonton Journal, March 18, 1936.
A.N. How, “Wheelman’s Corner,” Edmonton Bulletin, May 2, 1936.
“Don McCallum Leads Cyclists,” Edmonton Journal, May 18, 1936.
Ed Barker of Edmonton Cycle Club May Be Olympic Prospect,” Edmonton Journal, May 19, 1936.
“Wheelman’s Corner,” Edmonton Bulletin, June 6, 1936.
“5000 Attend South Side July 1 Celebration,” Edmonton Bulletin, July 2, 1936.
“Allen To Defend 25-Mile Race Cup,” Edmonton Journal, June 28, 1938.
“Manitoba Cyclists Arrive For 25-Mile Grind Slated Friday,” Edmonton Bulletin, June 30, 1938.
“Winnipeg Rider Wins Bike Race,” Edmonton Journal, July 2, 1938.
“Cycle Club Meets,” Edmonton Journal, April 13, 1946.
Cyclists Plan Reorganization,” Edmonton Bulletin, April 13, 1946.
Revival of Bicycle Racing Planned Here,” Edmonton Bulletin, July 12, 1948.
