DAHLQUIST CYCLEWORKS
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  • American Bicycles
    • American Bicycles >
      • 1890s Columbus Bicycle
      • 1892-93 Stover
      • 1893 Elliott Hickory
      • More American Bicycles >
        • 1895 Columbia Model 45 C.A. Fudge
        • 1895 Gormully & Jeffery Rambler No. 12
        • Patee Track Bicycle
        • 1895 Patee Gents'
        • 1895 Patee Ladies' Loop Frame
        • 1895 Sterling (As Ridden by Bobby Walthour)
        • 1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle
        • 1897 American-Made Humber Roadster
        • 1897 Crescent No. 9
        • 1899 Sterling Shaft-Drive
        • 1899 Monarch
        • 1900 Gormully & Jeffery American Bicycle Co. Rambler
        • 1902 Columbia Model 92
        • 1902 Sears Kenwood
      • Some More American Bicycles >
        • Teddy Roosevelt 1904 Campaign Bicycle
        • 1907 Cruso Double Bar Semi-Racer
        • 1908 Tribune Blue Streak Racer
        • 1909 Sears Peerless
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        • 1914 Crown
        • 1915 Sears Chief Motorbike
        • 1915 Truss Frame
        • 1916 Mead Ranger Coaster Brake Special
        • 1919 Haverford Black Beauty 'Pacer' Arch Bar
        • Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer
        • 1918 Columbia Military Model
        • 1920s Mead Ranger Motorbike
        • 1923 Mead Racer
      • Even More American Bicycles >
        • 1923 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1926 Columbia 50th Anniversary Motorbike
        • Supplee Hardware Suhaco Special Crown Wannabe
        • 1920s/30s Greyhound Semi-Racer
        • Marshall Field Tricycle
        • 1930s/40s Drysdale Special Track
        • 1936 Schwinn Liberty First Generation Klunker
        • 1936/37 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1937 Schwinn Paramount Track
        • 1938 Shelby Hiawatha Airflo Rat Rod
        • 1939 Mead Ranger
        • 1939 Schwinn Superior Sports-Tourist
        • 1939 Shelby Airflo
        • 1940s Schwinn New World (Admiral) Track
      • Additional American Bicycles >
        • 1943 Dayton Military Bicycle
        • 1949 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • 1954 Mead Ranger/Schwinn New World
        • 1956 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • Mead Coventry Flyer
        • 1972 Schwinn Super Sport Custom Coffee Bike
        • 1983 Trek 850
        • 1985 Schwinn Voyageur Custom
      • Further American Bicycles >
        • French Gray Mead Crusader
        • Napoleon and Josephine
        • 1987 Schwinn Paramountain
        • Iver Johnson Lightweight Touring Mens' & Ladies'
        • Schwinn Paramount Tricycle
        • Tyger's Teesdale
      • Extra American Bicycles >
        • 1983 Moulton-Made John Howard
        • 1986 Schwinn Sierra
        • 1986 Schwinn Mirada Mixte
        • 1992 Schwinn Paramount S.A.S.S. Buell Mountain Bike
        • 1997 Rivendell Road Standard
        • 1981 Jeffrey Bock Light Touring
        • 1981 Trek 950
        • 9/11 Yellow Schwinn Tribute Bike
        • 2017 Rivendell Appaloosa
    • American Balloon-Tire Bicycles >
      • 1935 Schwinn Excelsior Double-Diamond Clunker
      • 1940s Schwinn Excelsior Clunker
      • Scotty Bandito Cowboy Bike
      • Roadmaster Rat Rod
  • Austrian Bicycles
    • 1948 Norwegian Styria
  • Belgian Bicycles
    • 1930s Delfa
    • 1940s Sieber
    • 1950s Jean Aerts
  • British Bicycles
    • 1895 Humber Path Racer
    • 1897 Humber Tandem
    • 1907 Full-Nickel BSA Path Racer
    • 1910 Raleigh Superbe Cross Frame
    • 1911 New Hudson Imperial
    • Unique & Unity Juvenile Bicycle
    • WWI Humber British Army Postal Service Bicycle
    • 1920s Hercules
    • 1920s New Hudson Cross Frame
    • Hercules NFS & Humber Messenger Bicycle
    • More British Bicycles >
      • 1930s Royal Enfield Roadster
      • 1930s Special Sunbeam
      • 1932 Royal Sunbeam
      • Humber Bermuda
      • 1936 Hetchins Brilliant No. 2
      • 1940s Maclean Featherweight
      • Robin Hood Camping Bicycle
      • 1947 Humber Roadster
      • 1947 Raleigh Loop Frame
      • 1949 Paris Tour de France
    • Even More British Bicycles >
      • Bicycle Institute of America Mystery Racer
      • The Double Bar Humber Number
      • 1952 Humber Sports
      • 1952 Carlton Silver Clubman
      • 1967 Marshall Field Raleigh 5 Speed Sprint
      • 1970s Bob Jackson
      • Ephgrave No. 1
      • Dahlquist Cycleworks Delivery
      • Teens Era BSA Path Racer
  • Canadian Bicycles
    • 1926 CCM Motor Bicycle
    • 1940s CCM Flyer Track Bicycle
    • 1976 Marinoni "Quebec" Special
  • Chinese Bicycles
    • Tiananmen Square Tribute Bicycle "Forever"
  • Dutch Bicycles
    • Netherlands Raleigh City Bike
    • Netherlands Raleigh Prestige
  • French Bicycles
    • 1903 Peugeot Roadster
    • 1903-1910 Tour de France Racer
    • 1910/Teens J.B. Louvet Truss Frame Racing Bicycle
    • 1920s L' Automotion
    • Automoto Champion du Monde
    • Bobet's Bicycle
    • 1961 Rene Herse Touring
    • Bobet Cyclo-Pedia Touring Bicycle
    • Blue Bobet
    • 1955 Peugeot PHX-10
    • 1960s/70s Peugeot UO-8 Juvenile
    • Motobecane Wine Bike
  • German Bicycles
    • 1939 Durkopp Track Bicycle
    • 1940 Achilles Gents & Ladies Roadsters
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Sport
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Loop Frame
    • Repurposed WWII German Military
  • Italian Bicycles
    • Bianchi Military Bicycle
    • 1940s Bottecchia
    • 1941 Legnano Tipo Campione Del Mondo
    • 1949 Gloria Garibaldina Extra
    • More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1950s Fausto Coppi
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Track Bicycle
      • Gino Bartali Team Bike
      • 1961 Bianchi Specialissima - T. Johnson's
    • Even More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1961 Olmo Special
      • 1961 Bianchi Rekord
      • Early 1960s Legnano Gran Premio
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Road Bicycle
  • Italian Bicycles II
    • 1967 Torpado
    • 1970s Eddie Merckx Colnago
    • 1970-71 Pogliaghi Italcorse
    • 1974 Carlsbad CA Masi Gran Criterium
    • 1976 Pogliaghi Selection
  • Japanese Bicycles
    • Miyata Mister
    • Kyokurei Post-War Roadster
    • Post War Maruto Deluxe "High Class" Roadster
    • 1960s Five Speed Fujicycle
    • 1973 Schwinn World Voyageur
    • 1973 Fuji S-10-S Special Racer
    • 1974 Schwinn Voyageur II
    • 1985 Fuji Opus III
    • 1987 Team Fuji Funny Bike
    • 1987 Bridgestone T 700 Atlantis Prototype
    • 1988 Team Fuji Time Trial
  • Klunker Bicycles
    • Klunker Dan
  • Swedish Bicycles
    • 1930s/40s Hermes
    • 1947 Crescent Roadster
  • Scottish Bikes
    • 1959 Flying Scot
  • Poetry
    • A bientot mon ami
    • Bicycle Haiku
    • Bicycle at Rest
    • Bill Harley and Major Taylor
    • Four Sunflowers
    • ​Mile-a-Minute Murphy
    • Neruda: Wrong on Bicycles
    • Tribute to Tyger
    • On a Mountain Road in Virginia
    • More Poetry >
      • Forever Bicycles
      • The Humber Chainring
      • What I'll See on that Bicycle Ride
      • 1940
      • The Aging Athlete Reinvents Himself for John Howard
  • Events
    • 6/11/2022 Dream Team Presentation
    • 7/19/22 25th Anniversary
    • 8/26/222 Auburn Vintage Bike Show
    • I Sold My Rat Rod
    • John Howard Visits Missouri
  • About
  • Contact

Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer


The poet and novelist James Dickey once told me, when I was around thirty years of age, that his essential stance against time is defiance. Now that I am an old man, Dickey's words are no longer an abstraction. For I am fortunate to count as my good friend a living embodiment of age-defying courage and commitment: his name is Tyger Johnson.

In 1963 Tyger became America's first Cyclo-Cross champion. He would win again in 1966 and 1967. In the 1969 race, as Tyger slugged through the mud with his bike over his shoulder, a young competitor by the name of John Howard passed him, saying "Excuse me" as he sped by. (John Howard won this race, and went on to become one of the greatest cyclists of all time, setting the motor-paced bicycle speed record of 152.2 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1985, and earning the title of Ironman Triathlon World Champion in 1981). Imagine my excitement in July, 2019, when these two former rivals would reunite in Sedalia, Missouri for the National Wheelmen Meet.

There are times in one's life when the stars align and you find yourself in the right place at the right time. (Meeting my wife on stage in Turner Hall, Galena, Illinois is one of these times; and for this cyclist, in terms of importance, witnessing the reunion of Tyger Johnson and John Howard is not far behind). Tyger, a versatile musician in addition to being a great cyclist, was entertaining his fellow Wheelmen on his World War One pump organ in the college parking lot when John Howard appeared. The two cyclists embraced, and before long John produced a harmonica from his shirt pocket. What a musical duo they made! Never again, in this world or the next, will I hear a lovelier rendition of "You Are My Sunshine," or "My Darling Clementine."

For many of us the highlight of the 2019 Wheelmen Meet was the Criterium Race. Tyger Johnson, then a few months shy of his eightieth birthday, entered the pre-1933 Pneumatic category. He would be competing against a handful of younger riders, including a much younger, lanky teenager who clearly intended to give this race all he had. Although presented as a strictly-for-fun event,  age has its own agendas; Tyger and I took the race seriously, for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which was the presence of Mr. Howard. 

For this momentous event I loaned Tyger my 1918 Mead Racer. Even  a century ago, the Mead was an entry-level machine, constructed of straight-gauge carbon steel tubing (known to cyclists as “gas pipe”). It is a heavy bike. We did what we could to improve the performance of the old mail-order Mead. We swapped the wood rims for some steel CCM wheels. Tyger laced a little-used New Departure hub into the rear, and I added a Major Taylor-style adjustable stem and Criterium drop bars. By the time Tyger had finished taping the handlebars, he had only a very few days to train on this old bicycle, which was a far cry from the Schwinn Paramount he was accustomed to. 
​

The day of the race several hundred spectators had gathered on the Sedalia courthouse lawn. The sun was shining. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see John Howard whispering in Tyger's ear. The riders took their marks at the starting line, and they were off! In the suspenseful first lap, the riders disappeared behind the tall buildings. At their first reappearance, the teenage boy held a commanding lead. One sensed the crowd was in Tyger's corner, but this was a race of near mythic proportion, not unlike the competition between John Henry and the steam drill--and who would not forgive an eighty year old for succumbing to the toll Time takes on us all?
​

When Tyger Johnson crossed the finish line several lengths ahead of his young rival, the crowd erupted in wild cheer. There was justice in this world, after all.

Would you like to know what words John Howard whispered in Tyger's ear?

So would I.

Whatever secret the two champions shared, they will likely keep to themselves. Better not to ask. But for those of us of a certain age who are committed to holding onto the dream for as long as possible, I will give you a hint. One word, as they say: Endurance.
Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer ©Daniel Dahlquist
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  • Home
  • Bicycle Stories
    • Story of America in 2 Bicycles
  • American Bicycles
    • American Bicycles >
      • 1890s Columbus Bicycle
      • 1892-93 Stover
      • 1893 Elliott Hickory
      • More American Bicycles >
        • 1895 Columbia Model 45 C.A. Fudge
        • 1895 Gormully & Jeffery Rambler No. 12
        • Patee Track Bicycle
        • 1895 Patee Gents'
        • 1895 Patee Ladies' Loop Frame
        • 1895 Sterling (As Ridden by Bobby Walthour)
        • 1896 Buffalo Soldier Bicycle
        • 1897 American-Made Humber Roadster
        • 1897 Crescent No. 9
        • 1899 Sterling Shaft-Drive
        • 1899 Monarch
        • 1900 Gormully & Jeffery American Bicycle Co. Rambler
        • 1902 Columbia Model 92
        • 1902 Sears Kenwood
      • Some More American Bicycles >
        • Teddy Roosevelt 1904 Campaign Bicycle
        • 1907 Cruso Double Bar Semi-Racer
        • 1908 Tribune Blue Streak Racer
        • 1909 Sears Peerless
        • 1912 Elgin King
        • 1914 Crown
        • 1915 Sears Chief Motorbike
        • 1915 Truss Frame
        • 1916 Mead Ranger Coaster Brake Special
        • 1919 Haverford Black Beauty 'Pacer' Arch Bar
        • Tyger's 1918 Mead Racer
        • 1918 Columbia Military Model
        • 1920s Mead Ranger Motorbike
        • 1923 Mead Racer
      • Even More American Bicycles >
        • 1923 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1926 Columbia 50th Anniversary Motorbike
        • Supplee Hardware Suhaco Special Crown Wannabe
        • 1920s/30s Greyhound Semi-Racer
        • Marshall Field Tricycle
        • 1930s/40s Drysdale Special Track
        • 1936 Schwinn Liberty First Generation Klunker
        • 1936/37 Iver Johnson Model 90
        • 1937 Schwinn Paramount Track
        • 1938 Shelby Hiawatha Airflo Rat Rod
        • 1939 Mead Ranger
        • 1939 Schwinn Superior Sports-Tourist
        • 1939 Shelby Airflo
        • 1940s Schwinn New World (Admiral) Track
      • Additional American Bicycles >
        • 1943 Dayton Military Bicycle
        • 1949 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • 1954 Mead Ranger/Schwinn New World
        • 1956 Schwinn Paramount Sports-Tourist
        • Mead Coventry Flyer
        • 1972 Schwinn Super Sport Custom Coffee Bike
        • 1983 Trek 850
        • 1985 Schwinn Voyageur Custom
      • Further American Bicycles >
        • French Gray Mead Crusader
        • Napoleon and Josephine
        • 1987 Schwinn Paramountain
        • Iver Johnson Lightweight Touring Mens' & Ladies'
        • Schwinn Paramount Tricycle
        • Tyger's Teesdale
      • Extra American Bicycles >
        • 1983 Moulton-Made John Howard
        • 1986 Schwinn Sierra
        • 1986 Schwinn Mirada Mixte
        • 1992 Schwinn Paramount S.A.S.S. Buell Mountain Bike
        • 1997 Rivendell Road Standard
        • 1981 Jeffrey Bock Light Touring
        • 1981 Trek 950
        • 9/11 Yellow Schwinn Tribute Bike
        • 2017 Rivendell Appaloosa
    • American Balloon-Tire Bicycles >
      • 1935 Schwinn Excelsior Double-Diamond Clunker
      • 1940s Schwinn Excelsior Clunker
      • Scotty Bandito Cowboy Bike
      • Roadmaster Rat Rod
  • Austrian Bicycles
    • 1948 Norwegian Styria
  • Belgian Bicycles
    • 1930s Delfa
    • 1940s Sieber
    • 1950s Jean Aerts
  • British Bicycles
    • 1895 Humber Path Racer
    • 1897 Humber Tandem
    • 1907 Full-Nickel BSA Path Racer
    • 1910 Raleigh Superbe Cross Frame
    • 1911 New Hudson Imperial
    • Unique & Unity Juvenile Bicycle
    • WWI Humber British Army Postal Service Bicycle
    • 1920s Hercules
    • 1920s New Hudson Cross Frame
    • Hercules NFS & Humber Messenger Bicycle
    • More British Bicycles >
      • 1930s Royal Enfield Roadster
      • 1930s Special Sunbeam
      • 1932 Royal Sunbeam
      • Humber Bermuda
      • 1936 Hetchins Brilliant No. 2
      • 1940s Maclean Featherweight
      • Robin Hood Camping Bicycle
      • 1947 Humber Roadster
      • 1947 Raleigh Loop Frame
      • 1949 Paris Tour de France
    • Even More British Bicycles >
      • Bicycle Institute of America Mystery Racer
      • The Double Bar Humber Number
      • 1952 Humber Sports
      • 1952 Carlton Silver Clubman
      • 1967 Marshall Field Raleigh 5 Speed Sprint
      • 1970s Bob Jackson
      • Ephgrave No. 1
      • Dahlquist Cycleworks Delivery
      • Teens Era BSA Path Racer
  • Canadian Bicycles
    • 1926 CCM Motor Bicycle
    • 1940s CCM Flyer Track Bicycle
    • 1976 Marinoni "Quebec" Special
  • Chinese Bicycles
    • Tiananmen Square Tribute Bicycle "Forever"
  • Dutch Bicycles
    • Netherlands Raleigh City Bike
    • Netherlands Raleigh Prestige
  • French Bicycles
    • 1903 Peugeot Roadster
    • 1903-1910 Tour de France Racer
    • 1910/Teens J.B. Louvet Truss Frame Racing Bicycle
    • 1920s L' Automotion
    • Automoto Champion du Monde
    • Bobet's Bicycle
    • 1961 Rene Herse Touring
    • Bobet Cyclo-Pedia Touring Bicycle
    • Blue Bobet
    • 1955 Peugeot PHX-10
    • 1960s/70s Peugeot UO-8 Juvenile
    • Motobecane Wine Bike
  • German Bicycles
    • 1939 Durkopp Track Bicycle
    • 1940 Achilles Gents & Ladies Roadsters
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Sport
    • 1940s/50s Durkopp Diana Loop Frame
    • Repurposed WWII German Military
  • Italian Bicycles
    • Bianchi Military Bicycle
    • 1940s Bottecchia
    • 1941 Legnano Tipo Campione Del Mondo
    • 1949 Gloria Garibaldina Extra
    • More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1950s Fausto Coppi
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Track Bicycle
      • Gino Bartali Team Bike
      • 1961 Bianchi Specialissima - T. Johnson's
    • Even More Italian Bicycles >
      • 1961 Olmo Special
      • 1961 Bianchi Rekord
      • Early 1960s Legnano Gran Premio
      • 1950s Legnano Tipo Roma Road Bicycle
  • Italian Bicycles II
    • 1967 Torpado
    • 1970s Eddie Merckx Colnago
    • 1970-71 Pogliaghi Italcorse
    • 1974 Carlsbad CA Masi Gran Criterium
    • 1976 Pogliaghi Selection
  • Japanese Bicycles
    • Miyata Mister
    • Kyokurei Post-War Roadster
    • Post War Maruto Deluxe "High Class" Roadster
    • 1960s Five Speed Fujicycle
    • 1973 Schwinn World Voyageur
    • 1973 Fuji S-10-S Special Racer
    • 1974 Schwinn Voyageur II
    • 1985 Fuji Opus III
    • 1987 Team Fuji Funny Bike
    • 1987 Bridgestone T 700 Atlantis Prototype
    • 1988 Team Fuji Time Trial
  • Klunker Bicycles
    • Klunker Dan
  • Swedish Bicycles
    • 1930s/40s Hermes
    • 1947 Crescent Roadster
  • Scottish Bikes
    • 1959 Flying Scot
  • Poetry
    • A bientot mon ami
    • Bicycle Haiku
    • Bicycle at Rest
    • Bill Harley and Major Taylor
    • Four Sunflowers
    • ​Mile-a-Minute Murphy
    • Neruda: Wrong on Bicycles
    • Tribute to Tyger
    • On a Mountain Road in Virginia
    • More Poetry >
      • Forever Bicycles
      • The Humber Chainring
      • What I'll See on that Bicycle Ride
      • 1940
      • The Aging Athlete Reinvents Himself for John Howard
  • Events
    • 6/11/2022 Dream Team Presentation
    • 7/19/22 25th Anniversary
    • 8/26/222 Auburn Vintage Bike Show
    • I Sold My Rat Rod
    • John Howard Visits Missouri
  • About
  • Contact