Harry Elkes
Harry Elkes (born February 28, 1878 in Port Henry , † May 30, 1903 in Boston ) was an American track cyclist .
Until his untimely death, Harry Elkes was one of the cycling stars in the United States, but he also often competed in races in Europe. He was a so-called "permanent driver", so he mainly drove long distances on the cycling track in the form of standing and six-day races . In 1897, at the age of 19, he finished third in the six-day race in Boston, which at the time was still contested by one driver around the clock for six days. In 1898 he set a new hourly world record behind Pacemaker . In 1900 he won the New York Six Days as a two-man team ride with Floyd MacFarland . He was described as “long-limbed, lean, sinewy and elastic like a deer with phlegmatic, relaxed movements”, but after the start of a race “the whole body was nerve, temperament”.
In 1903 Harry Elkes had a fatal accident in a 20-hour stand-up race in Boston. At the time of his accident, he was in the lead behind the German pacemaker Franz Hofmann when a tire burst on his bike and he was run over by a subsequent pacemaker motorcycle. He had planned to end his cycling career that same year to start studying medicine.
literature
- Roger de Maertelaere: De Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X , p. 207
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sport-Album der Rad-Welt 1903, Berlin 1904, p. 89
Web links
- Harry Elkes in the Radsportseiten.net database
- New York Times v. May 31, 1903
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Elkes, Harry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American cyclist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 28, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Port Henry |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 30, 1903 |
| Place of death | Boston |