Souvenir Program. R, Verne Mccullough Presents The First International 10,000 Mile Bicycle Race, (Cover Title)

MCCULLOUGH, R. VERNE [PROMOTER]

Publication: Music Hall, 1935, Salt Lake City

First edition. 4to. Green colored pictorial stapled wrappers, 20 pp.(including covers), illustrated mostly from advertisements, official souvenir program, biographical sketches of the 20 entrants, along with their team colors and country represented. The riders were from the United States, Canada, Italy, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, and Mexico. Two of the riders were from Salt Lake City and one, Phil Stevens provides a 5 1/2" x 3 1/2" real photograph post card (RPPC) with the caption on the back ""Phil Steven #2 The 10,000 mi race in Salt Lake that flopped at 800 mi." Manuscript notes in pencil throughout the program, including autographs of all twenty listed racers beneath their biographical sketches. "Twenty professional bike riders, representing ten nations, will arrive Monday, ready to compete for $5000 prize money which the promoter declares will be distributed among the three place winners and also among lap and print winners and also among lap and sprint winners at various stages of the event. The promoter estimates that it will require about 60 days to reach the 10,000th mile on the electrically timed speedometer." - Salt Lake Tribune (3/29/1935)" Through the 1920s and 1930s track cycling drew thousands of fans, it was considered America’s most popular sport. 6-day bicycle races took place on indoor velodromes in major US cities. The largest venue was Madison Square Garden in New York. Cyclists were America’s Idols and rode tirelessly for 6-days straight, sometimes completing over 2500 miles. The Tour de France even began as a 6-day race modeled after the track cycling format. Program is lightly used with a bit of light wear to the fore-edges, else a very good copy.

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