early-cycling1_feature_westmountmag

The early days of
cycling in Montreal

Westmount was a key player in promoting cycling in the latter part of the 19th century

By Patricia Dumais

September 10, 2016

As an avid cyclist, I have often wondered when this wonderful mode of transportation got its start locally. Before cars, there were horses and buggies, but bicycles were also a popular mode of transportation.

On July 1, 1874, Albert T. Lane, a bookkeeper residing at 16 Fournier Street in Montreal, rode the first bicycle ever seen in North America through the streets of Montreal.

A while ago, I was sent an image of a Dominion Express bicycle route map dated 1897 (see below). Dominion Express, a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railways, was a parcel delivery service that made use of the bicycle to transport items on and around the Island of Montreal. It is obvious from this information that, by then, greater Montreal had a reliable network of roads suitable for bicycling. Interestingly, a number of those roads passed through Westmount: Côte St-Antoine Road, Sherbrooke Street, Dorchester Street, Lansdowne Avenue / Glen Road, Victoria Avenue and Craig Street (now St-Antoine Street).

map 1897 bicycle routes weastmountma.ca

1897 bicycle route map of Greater Montreal

Working on the production of the APCW display for Westmount’s upcoming PARK(ing) Day event, I came across more information about the local history of cycling and discovered that our city played an important role in the promotion of cycling as a sport. My APCW colleague Malcolm McRae had researched early cycling in Montreal for the project and presented me with a chapter from A Sporting Evolution – The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association 1881-1981, the basis for this article.

On July 1, 1874, Albert T. Lane, a bookkeeper residing at 16 Fournier Street in Montreal, rode the first bicycle ever seen in North America through the streets of Montreal. It was a penny-farthing style of bicycle, also known as a high wheel or high wheeler, with a 50-inch diameter front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel, and it represented a revolution in transportation. Wealthier citizens began to buy bicycles from Britain and France and in 1878, under Lane’s initiative, the Montreal Bicycle Club (MBC) was founded. Shortly after, the MBC merged with the Montreal Lacrosse Club and the Montreal Snow Shoe Club to form the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association or MAAA.

Albert T. Lane and Master Lane with bicycles, Montreal, QC, 1880

Albert T. Lane and Master Lane with bicycles,
Montreal, QC, 1880
Notman Archives © McCord Museum

Many of the early cyclists were active or former military officers who adopted the only form of organization known to them, military order. Therefore, throughout the 1880s, the MBC was a paramilitary club that required its members to wear their uniforms at all time. This distinctive feature led to the club’s efficiency and renown as Montrealers began to equate riders of the MBC with cycling itself. Imagine the spectacle of twenty to fifty men, wearing their military attire, frequently riding in formation throughout the countryside around Montreal, by day and by moonlight!

In the beginning, the club’s growth was slow, partly due to the $18 cost of the uniform and the $100 to $200 cost of a bicycle. But cycling was finally here and was quick to organize itself. The League of American Wheelman (LAW), the national administrative body in the US, was soon followed by the formation of the Canadian Wheelman’s Association (CWA) in 1882. The CWA organized races using high wheelers and adult tricycles over cinder or dirt tracks in Quebec and Ontario.

In July 1886, the Montreal Bicycle Club hosted the CWA’s Annual Race at the old Montreal Lacrosse Club grounds. By then, the MBC was sixty members strong and nearly 300 racers from places such as Ottawa, Kingston and London, ON participated. At that meet, Albert T. Lane won the one-mile tricycle championship of Canada with a record time of three minutes, fifty-one seconds.

The best was yet to come. Would-be cyclists of the 1880s were confronted by high costs and bad roads, and had to compete for venues with lacrosse, another popular spectator sport. Furthermore, the high-wheelers were heavy, cumbersome and prone to spills over the handlebars.

Montreal Cycling Club westmountmag.ca

Montreal Bicycle Club circa 1878 – Notman Archives © McCord Museum

This fortunately changed with the invention of the safety or modern bicycle, with equal sized wheels. Bicycling became a passion in North-America as mass production brought prices down and various accessories such as pneumatic tires, lamps, brakes (that worked!), bells and saddle-bags made cycling safer and more enjoyable. The inventions of the drop frame and sociable tricycle encouraged women to give cycling a whirl.

In the 1890s, the Montreal Bicycle Club relaxed its dress code prompting even more riders to join the club. During that period, nine-hour century rides (100-mile rides) were the extreme craze among the best MBC riders.

Competitive bicycling was considered the epitome of cycling ability. The number of cycling clubs across Canada increased dramatically and the Canadian Wheelman’s Association became an important governing body of sport. Around that time the MBC spearheaded the acquisition and construction of the MAAA Westmount Grounds.

MAAA Westmount Grounds 1893 westmountmag.ca

An illustration of the MAAA Westmount Grounds – Source: Montreal Star, August 31, 1893

The completed Grounds facilities were an outstanding sporting venue that featured a playing field 600 feet by 430 feet, surrounded by a third-of-a-mile cinder track with banked curves on what is presently the Westmount Athletic Grounds (WAG) and Westmount High School. The grandstand ran the entire length north of the field and backed onto Ste-Catherine Street. It was divided into seven tiers of seats accessible only from the back of the grandstand. In the centre was the slightly elevated Directors Pavilion where some 600 seats were given over to reserved seats for members, the press, ladies and officers of the MBC. A roof over the grandstand was supported at the front by thin iron posts to give the clearest possible view of the track and playing field.

In July 1886, the Montreal Bicycle Club hosted the CWA’s Annual Race at the old Montreal Lacrosse Club grounds.

In the summer of 1899, Montreal was awarded the World’s Bicycle Meet and Louis Rubenstein of the Montreal Bicycle Club was the primary instigator. Not only was Rubenstein an expert cyclist, he had also won the World Figure Skating Championship in 1890 and was an accomplished bowler.

Rubenstein spent great time and effort, travelling all over Canada and the US, promoting the meet. In 1899, there were 9,000 cyclists in the Canadian Wheelman’s Association, 76,000 in the League of American Wheelman and one million in the International Cyclists Association. The week of professional and amateur races would bring $200,000 in net profit to Montreal businessmen. All in all, the meet, with its races, masquerade parades, moonlight tours and banquets, was a tremendous success. Unfortunately, it also marked the end of the MBC’s glory days, as the automobile would soon capture the greater interest.

Research: Malcolm McRae

Source: A Sporting Evolution – The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association 1881-1981 – Published by the MAAA and Don Morrow.

Featured image: The Coles sisters on a bicycle trip from Montreal, QC to Ottawa, ON, 1916 – Notman Archives © McCord Museum


PARK(ing) Day

On Friday, September 16, from 10 am to 3 pm, the City of Westmount will be hosting PARK(ing) Day, as part of a worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spaces into temporary parks.

Look for various PARK(ing) Day displays around town:
– the North-East corner of de Maisonneuve and Greene
– Greene Avenue (block between de Maisonneuve and Ste-Catherine)
– Sherbrooke Street (Prince Albert Square)
– Victoria (Victoria Village)

The community groups invited to participate are:
– the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of Westmount (APCW)
– the Healthy City Project
– the Horticultural Advisory Committee
– the Lawn Bowling Club

APCW Display
The display sponsored by the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of Westmount (APCW) will be at the North-East corner of de Maisonneuve and Greene. It will feature an interesting collection of early day cycling photographs from the Notman collection as well as mosaics of photographs of urban cyclists. Come and enjoy a piece of cake as we celebrate 142 years of cycling in Montreal!

For more information about the event visit parkingday.org and acwestmount.wordpress.com


Patricia Dumais, artistic director, award-winning graphic designer specialized in brand design is co-founder of Visionnaires, publishers of Westmount Magazine. Patricia develops visual concepts and ensures that all deliverables follow our publication’s standards and reflect the editorial voice. You can connect with Patricia on Linkedin, Twitter and Pinterest. or by email at pdumais@westmountmag.ca.

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  1. Stephen Chin

    It beats me how the Penny Farthing Cycle works! The cyclist is at a considerable height from the ground. A fall would have been serious: and, at a speed…likely to be fatal. And how does one get up that height to be seated on the saddle? What reasons were there for such a weird machine to be conceived and built? Beats me!!


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