Freddie Spencer (cyclist)

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the motorcycle racer, see Freddie Spencer

Freddie Spencer

Freddie Spencer (left) with Bobby Walthour and Frank Kramer
To person
Full name	Fred Spencer
Nickname	The New Jersey Jammer
Date of birth	August 9, 1902
date of death	1st December 1992
nation	United States
discipline	train
End of career	1938
Last updated: May 12, 2020

Freddie Spencer (born August 9, 1902 in Westfield , New Jersey , † December 1, 1992 in Rahway ) was an American cyclist who primarily competed in races on the track .

Athletic career

Freddie Spencer was from Plainfield , New Jersey , and worked as a mechanic in a bicycle shop. One day he is said to have met the racing cyclists Jack Clark and Walter Rütt by chance , who were on a training ride and were enthusiastic about his serious interest in cycling. From 1923 Spencer started in amateur races , in 1924 he turned professional .

In 1925, Spencer won the American sprint championship at the Newark Velodrome in front of 16,000 spectators . In the following years he started mainly in six-day races, of which he contested a total of 72 and won five. After his first victory in New York in 1925 , he and his partner Bobby Walthour were invited to the White House by President Calvin Coolidge .

In 1928 and 1929 Spencer was able to win the national sprint title again. In 1928 he set a new world record over half a mile in Newark with 52.3 seconds. On August 9, 1929, he set four new world records in one day on the New York Velodrome, over 10 miles (10: 14.2 min), 15 miles (29:41 min), 20 miles (39:23 min) and 25 miles (49: 28.3 min). Spencer's manager was John Chapman . When he tried to conclude contracts with promoters in Europe without the intermediary of Chapman , Chapman caught on to him because he saw the stamps on the letters, which he then withheld. Chapman made a new contract with Spencer prohibiting him from starting in Europe. He signed the Dutch world champion Piet Moeskops for four races against Spencer on the Velodrome in Newark, which he won in front of around 18,000 spectators after consultation. Among other awards , Spencer received golf clubs ; However, since he was not interested in golf, he had these built into his bike as seat stays.

In 1927 Spencer was invited by the promoter Tex Richert to a banquet of the "Kings of Sport" in New York. In addition to Spencer, the guests were Babe Ruth (baseball), Johnny Weissmüller (swimming), Bobby Jones (golf), Bill Tilden (tennis), Gene Tunney (boxing), Bill Cook (hockey), and Charles Winter (cycling). He is supposed to weddings every year more than 100,000 dollars have earned "more than Babe Ruth." He was particularly popular with "the ladies" who literally showered him with gifts, including a luxurious limousine . In the races he practiced his own driving style, which he called "gallop".

In 1934, Spencer was one of several racing drivers in the film Six-Day Bike Rider ( The Horror of the Racetrack ). As a double of actor Joe E. Brown, he apparently had to drive in the wrong direction and cause a near collision. As he later reported, the recordings were made: Spencer was sitting on a roll .

After the end of his cycling career, Freddie Spencer moved to Rahway . He became an engineer and invested his fees profitably. In 1977 he was honored by the New Jersey Sports Writer Association . In 1990 he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame . In the 1960s and 1970s , the Freddie Spencer Holiday at Home Race was held annually on July 4th in Rahway .

Freddie Spencer was not related to the cyclist William Spencer .

successes

1925

• Six Days Chicago (with Bobby Walthour )
• Six days New York (with Bobby Walthour )
• American champion - sprint

1927

• Six days New York (with Charles Winter )

1928

• Six days New York (with Franco Giorgetti )
• American champion - sprint

1929

• American champion - sprint

1932

• Six days New York (with William Peden )

literature

• Michael C. Gabriele: The Golden Age of Bicycling in New Jersey . History Press, Charleston, SC 2011, ISBN 978-1-59629-427-1 .
• Peter Nye: Hearts of Lions. The History of American Bicycle Racing . WW Norton & Company, New York / London 1988, ISBN 978-0-393-30576-0 .

Web links

• Freddie Spencer in the Radsportseiten.net database
• Six Day Bike Rider Part 7 on YouTube , March 21, 2013

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Freddie Spencer. In: Bill Shannon Biographical Dictionary of New York Sports. Retrieved May 12, 2020 . 
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Al Shipley: Freddie Spencer - "The Fastest Man in the World" . In: Our Town Rahway . August 2018, p. 6 .
3. ^ Gabriele, Golden Age , p. 74.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de Nacht . 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 248.
5. ^ Nye, Hearts of Lions , p. 22.
6. ↑ Lou Dzierzak / Caroline Hardman: The Evolution of American Bicycle Racing . Falcon Guides, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7627-3901-1 , pp. 17 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Bicycling in Plainfield. In: Plainfield Public Library. Retrieved May 12, 2020 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Nye, Hearts of Lions , p. 297.