National Cyclists' Union - Activities and Amateurism

Activities and Amateurism

The British weekly, The Bicycle, said:

"Even during the insecurity of its early years, the union found that it had substantial problems to fight. Foremost among them was a proposed amendment to the Highways Act, then before Parliament, which threatened to check very seriously the use of bicycles on the road. The cyclist of those days was considered a nuisance whether he rode a bicycle, a tricycle, or a velocipede, and was banned by municipal bodies and corporations all over the country. Here was a matter affecting the very existence of cyclists. The Bicycle Union, then barely five months old, was called upon to act promptly. By instant and energetic action a rejection of the venomous amendment was secured."

The NCU erected road signs warning cyclists of steep descents and other hazards. It was prompted by a member, J George Jnr, who suggested them in 1878. The idea was taken up by the Earl of Albemarle, who became president of the NCU. The NCU shared signposting with the Cyclists Touring Club but after 10 years could no longer afford it and the CTC took on the whole job. The NCU also produced publications to help cyclists tour Britain. It ran racing championships, at first open to anyone in the world. Its championships were the world's most prestigious and considered unofficial championships of the world. The NCU, which had a strict definition of an amateur, proposed to create an International Cycling Association, open to national organisations whose views of amateurism were similar to its own, and to organise world championships. The International Cycling Union was the forerunner of the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The NCU defined amateurism in English races and banned the American sprinter, Arthur Augustus Zimmerman when he appeared to be sponsored by the Raleigh Bicycle Company. It insisted the organisers of the first Bordeaux-Paris met its own ideals before allowing British riders to take part. When George Pilkington Mills won, the NCU would not recognise the victory, or consider Mills still an amateur, until he proved he had no help from the cycle factory for which he worked.