CLEVELAND BICYCLE CLUB - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The CLEVELAND BICYCLE CLUB was the 22nd wheelmen's association to form in America. The club was created by a group of 6 avid bicyclists on the evening of 30 Sept. 1879, at a meeting in St. Malachi's Hall, which at the time was used for a riding school. In the following month membership increased to 14, and by 1882 active membership was up to 23. Affiliated with the League of American Wheelmen, the Cleveland Bicycle Club published the Cleveland Mercury, an official monthly organ of the LAW. Headquarters for the club were at 147 Ontario St. The CBC had 3 main purposes: 1) mutual enjoyment by its members of the pursuit of bicycling as a pastime, to which end club meets, excursions, tours, races, etc. were arranged; 2) advancement of the privileges and protection of the rights of bicyclers--especially the members of the club; and 3) the promotion, in the public mind, of a favorable interest in bicycling. Membership in the CBC was confined to gentlemen amateurs over 19 years of age, members of the LAW, and owners of bicycles of a standard pattern. The club probably went the way of most bicycle clubs, which dissolved in the early 1920s as a result of declining interest in bicycling and an increasing interest in the automobile.

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