St. Paul, when it comes to bicycling, is somewhat handicapped by her hills, and, the wheel in the Saintly city is more proportionately a business convenience than a source of pleasure. People who live in many Eastern cities would call St. Paul a paradise for wheelmen because of her well-paved streets and good roads leading out of the city, and the hills would not be taken into consideration at all, because of remembrances of steeper hills and more of them in the East. St. Paul, when compared with Minneapolis, however, does, not offer the same inducements to cyclists. There are many drives around the Saintly city which make good paths for wheelmen, but many of them are also reached only after climbing hills, and there is not the extensive boulevard system that can be found in this city. It has got so now, however, that the domain of the cyclist is not limited, and the streets of the city are merely incidental. When it comes to long rides into the country, etc., St. Paul has practically the same opportunity as Minneapolis, and the 10 miles separating the two cities have got to be but an ordinary pleasure ride to most cyclists. For these reasons the two cities may be considered as practically one when it comes to cycling. A Minneapolis party starting on a ride is as likely as not to head for St. Paul, and vice versa, and the riders of the Twin Cities have mingled with each other so much that it is not always easy to tell just where they do hail from. A number of the St. Paul boys also belong to the Minneapolis Limited Cycle Club.
It will be surprising, therefore, to learn that St. Paul has a large number of riders, in fact, the St. Paul people claim that they have within a few thousand of as many riders as Minneapolis, and among these riders are some of the fastest and best known cyclists in the state. It is impossible to tell just how many cyclists there are in a place, but from all that could be learned from the dealers in wheels, St. Paul must have about 10,000 or 11,000 riders. As in Minneapolis, the ladies have taken to the wheel with great enthusiasm, and one dealer informs The Times that at least 18 percent of the riders are of the gentler sex.
St. Paul riders take great interest in racing and trials of speed, but does not seem to have much enthusiasm over clubs, and it is difficult to gather much information concerning the clubs. There are really but two leading cycle clubs in St. Paul, the St. Paul Cycle Club and the Capitol City Cycle Club, and these do not seem to be enjoying an alarming amount of prosperity. The St. Paul Cycle Club, strange as it may seem, was a more vigorous organization 10 years ago when there was not one-third the number of riders that there are now. For a time it numbered among its members all the crack riders of St. Paul, and today it has a majority of the experts on its membership rolls, but the other clubs have se- cured their share of the fast riders, and they are pretty well divided now.
The St. Paul Club was organized in 1880, and undoubtedly has been kept alive. through the exertions of such enthusiasts as Tom and Burney Bird, who have stood by it from the start. Its present quarters are at 313 East Jackson street, where it has rooms of its own, and they are fitted up with pool and billiard tables, bathrooms, reading room and a small gymnasium. The present officers are Dr. B. C. Cornwell, president,” Ernest McGowan, secretary, Tom Bird, treasurer, Charles Hofer, captain. The Capitol City Bicycle Club has rooms.
–Minneapolis Daily Times- Sunday, July 14th, 1895
