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Pickwick Bicycle Club Magazine Volume 13 No.2 October 2016 14

The Story of the Amateur Bicycle Club

Mr. Brooks sent me this article about the Amateur Bicycle Club, courtesy of author Nick Clayton.
The ABC appears to have been formed prior to the existence of our own Pickwick Bicycle Club.
I will publish a suitably condensed version of this unique story over two editions of our magazine.

In May 1994 Sothebys sold 3 lots, which comprised the complete records of the Amateur Bicycle
Club from 1871- 1903. The hoard consisted of 7minute books, a quantity of bronze badges, a replica
of the Members Gold Challenge Medal, and a quantity of printed and manuscript ephemera
including bills, letters, menus, meet cards, rulebooks, and other items. The collection, under the
patronage of Lorne Shields, is destined for Ottawa Museum, and he has kindly allowed copies to be
made which it is intended will be available to researchers in England. It is a record of the earliest
days of cycling, and will provide a new source for historians interested in the period. As a social
document it has particular fascination because the ABC was a highly idiosyncratic club. It was
written almost entirely by one man, the man who was the Honorary Secretary, and Treasurer of the
ABC for over thirty years, Henry N. Custance Esq. In effect, it is the story of his adult life.

The Hirst minute book begins in 1871 with the ofHicial founding of the club, and refers to an earlier
meeting the previous January. Included is a letter from January 1870 referring to somebody ‘who
wishes to join the ‘ABC’. The signiHicance of this is that it is some 5 months prior to the formation of
the Pickwick BC in June 1870. The PBC has generally been held as the senior English club.

In an 1877 edition of Bicycling News there was an anonymous article about the ABC, thought to be
by Custance. “The ABC was founded by three or four friends dining together whilst discussing a
tour taken in 1869 on boneshakers…the Club was quickly formed in 1871 from gentlemen
belonging to the staff of Middlesex Hospital, the Skating Club and the London Rowing Club….the
ABC was intended to be a club in which gentlemen could seek recreation and enjoyment…the Club
is sufHiciently large for the encouragement of sociability amongst its Hifty or sixty members, who
being of equal stations in life, have no difHiculty in seeking companions for tours….the
qualiHications for candidature are perhaps very severe, but the executive have maintained that
every candidate must own a bicycle, prove himself to be a gentleman, and be personally known to
both his proposer & seconder”.

Whilst today one might consider this to be a triHle snooty, it appears to have been of mixed beneHit
to the ABC since although the rule was maintained for the next 30years, attendance at meets was
reportedly very poor. The members were middle class and had many calls on their time
participating in other hobbies – shooting, racquets, yachting & rowing. Many had countryseats, and
others worked very hard. Various ideas were promoted to ease this problem but they never got
around to accepting members who actually enjoyed going out cycling and had the time to do so.