The Film
The Glamour Sport of the 1910’s, 20’s, and 30’s
— The Six-Day
Bicycle Race
The riders were some of the best paid and most respected
athletes during the golden era of sports…the Jazz Age. It was a
seen and be seen event every year in all the major metropolitan
areas of the United States and Canada. Movie stars, politicians,
and gangsters mixed with everyday sports fans to create an
atmosphere not found in any other sport.
Jazz bands and song pluggers performed in the infield as the
bookies plied their trade. The finest sports writers of the day,
such as Grantland Rice and Damon Runyon, spun tales of heroes
and villains. The riders raced for big money and big
endorsements.
Every major city in North America had its own “Race to
Nowhere” each winter, when the college football season was over
(pro football was strictly small time) and the baseball season
had yet to start.
This film traces the history of this completely forgotten
sport from its early days in the 1880’s through its sad demise
in the 1950’s. Over 40 hours of interviews with riders,
supporters, family members and historians bring life to the rich
tapestry which was the Six-Day Bicycle Race.
Narrated by award winning author and television sports
journalist Frank Deford, this film brings to life the color and
excitement of an era when a bike rider could make in six days
what his father might earn in six years.
More than 10 years in the making, the Six-Day Bicycle Race is
a film that brings together the largest known collection of
photographs, archival footage and personal recollections by and
of people long since passed away.
The producers of this film hope you will come to love the characters and
the institution of the Six-Day Bicycle Race as much as we
have.
Mark Tyson
Jeff Groman
Peter Joffre Nye
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