141 years ago, the first cycling club was established in Smíchov
There is probably no internet discussion about Prague transport in which the proponents of cycling with car drivers would not get involved. But few of them know how long the tradition is for cyclists. The very first rounds appeared in the Czech lands as early as 1867, but at that time they were cumbersome wooden “skeletons“, As bicycles were popularly called at the time.
In the second half of the 19th century, significant technical progress took place, new types of entertainment appeared, and cycling included them, This development as a new sport and lifestyle dates back to the late 1970s. In 1879, the family of an Anglican priest, a young man named William Beo Crowl, who moved a bicycle with him, moved into the house of the Smíchov factory owner Jan Kohout, who owned a mill machine factory.
“At that time, sometimes a round had already appeared, Karel Šulc once had one in Prague. However, the Englishman had a machine made entirely of steel, the front wheel of which was many times larger than the rear and in addition, it was equipped with rubber hoops and overtook even the fastest dragoons on the roads with dizzying speed, “writes Marek Waic in the book Physical Education and Sport in the Service of the Czech National Emancipation.
The Englishman’s bicycle was immediately impressed by the factory’s sons Josef and František. The owner of another bike, Karel Šulc, also noticed a novelty in the streets of Prague. When Crowl left the Czech Republic, Šulc did not give up and bought the hot news from him. The Kohout brothers were so enthusiastic about the bicycle that they even managed to secure the factory father to make it. The factory owner was persuaded by his sons and in 1880 he began to produce bicycles.
The first cycling club
In the summer of the same year, the Kohout brothers went on bicycles to Vienna. The whole event was vehemently supported by their father, who saw an ideal opportunity on the way to promote the production of bicycles. Their journey ahead was also announced by the daily press, so they were loudly supported by like-minded enthusiasts throughout. In addition, the Kohout brothers route about 312 kilometers in two and a half days, temporarily a stagecoach needed more for the whole day.
The popularity of cycling increased, and the very next year the Kohová brothers founded the Czech Club of Spíchovists Smíchov, the oldest club in the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire. “The club performed in public through joint rides, beauty rides, participation in races abroad and organizing parties. Its founders had no idea that cycling would gain so many followers. The bike represented hitherto unsuspected possibilities, not only in travelbut also hiking or racing, ”explains Waic. “In addition, the first cyclists did not have it easy at all. The first wheels weighed between 25 and 35 kilograms and the roads of that time were rather dusty and drove, “adds the author.
The new sport on Tyrš did not impress
Of course, not everything was bathed in the sun. The new sport met them misunderstood. Especially for people in the countryside who blamed cyclists for scaring cattle and often shouting at riders “Athletes? Shutrama into themAnd worse swearing appeared
The founder of the falcon, Miroslav Tyrš, did not take the napkins either. “In recent times, especially after the example of England, the country is becoming an avid player, appropriate rational exercise of the body (ie physical training in our sense) unreasonable its exercise, which is only for the purpose of making each other stand out in the race, to win, for example, at the expense of their own health, a bet or rake the prize. So vanity on the one hand, greed for money on the other. Yes, this is a sport! ”Tyrš wrote in the Sokol magazine.
The essence of the feud was mainly that the bike was a very expensive thing, it came out on some 200 to 500 gold, which was a lot of money at the time. To give you an idea, it was about the annual salary of an official, for example. Therefore, when steamed cyclists appeared on steel horses in the countryside, or in working-class Prague districts such as Košíře, they usually caught it nicely from the locals.
However, the popularity of high bikes did not last long, only about 15 years and then began to decline and low bikes came to the fore. However, Jan Kohout’s factory produced around 900 of these tall bicycles during that time. The last “cock”, as the wheels made here were called, came off the production line in 1891.
Battalion of the Cycling Club
Author: Czech Bicyclists Club