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OHIO WHEELMEN
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OHIO WHEELMEN
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About the Ohio Wheelmen
The Ohio Wheelmen is a state division of The Wheelmen for members living in Ohio. Wheelmen in Ohio participate in parades, demonstrate riding to the public, collect cycling memorabilia, research topics, and ride their machines.
The Wheelmen is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to keeping alive the heritage of American cycling, promoting the restoration and riding of early cycles (1918 or earlier), and encouraging cycling as part of modern living. Members are intent on learning lost skills, retelling lost stories, researching and writing of the golden era of cycling.
About The Wheelmen *** Wheelmen Membership InformationThe uniform for Ohio Wheelmen is defined in The Wheelmen Bulletin #5a. The excerpt for Ohio is on this page.
The Wheelmen site has a wonderful page of Frequently Asked Questions about the Wheelmen organization and its members.
Upcoming Events
This schedule lists upcoming events in Ohio as well as other national or regional meets. Event Organizer: Please consult this page to request an appearance by the Ohio Wheelmen at your event.
Big Event in July 2012
The Wheelmen's 45th Annual Meet came to Findlay, Ohio in July!
The Ohio Wheelmen hosted The Wheelmen Annual Meet for 2012 at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. The activity dates were Wednesday through Sunday, July 18-22. Please check the Meet Information page. We had 191 Wheelmen attend the meet along with some Wheelmen that showed up just for the world-record Penny Farthing Stack on Saturday morning.
- Those 191 Wheelmen represented 26 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Nova Scotia).
- Ten Wheelmen rode to the meet, as did our predecessors back in the19th century. Two rode from Detroit, three rode from Indianapolis, four rode from Ontario, and one rode from Missouri. The Missouri rider attained three centuries during his trip. The other nine all rode centuries on their last day as they rode into Findlay on Wednesday.
- Thirty-three riders accomplished a century on Thursday, despite the on and off rain that day.
- On Saturday, the high wheel stack involved enough bikes and riders to qualify for the Guinness World Record for the number of Penny Farthings in a stack. We beat the previous record of 131 with our 156 high wheels and riders arrayed in front of The University of Findlay's Old Main building. A big thank you to Carey Williams for coordinating this major activity!
- The Official High Wheel Tour & Official Antique Safety Tour was a great ride up and down Findlay's Main Street to scattered crowds of on-lookers from near and far. The tour involved about 70 high wheel bicycles leading the safeties in a grand parade. As past National Commander Bob Balcomb sat in the shade of his front lawn, the OHWT/OAST paraded past as a salute for his years of leadership.
- The Junior Wheelmen Drill Team gave two excellent performances; the first (after less than two hours of practicing) was an excellent show to the Friday night crowd in downtown Findlay during the Findlay Bicycle Night. On Saturday afternoon during the OHWT/OAST public demo, the drill team gave a second solid performance.
- Sunday morning, at the south edge of Findlay, nine Wheelmen competitors participated in the second semi-biennial FORTH race. This year, it was the Findlay Ordinary Race for Two Hours around four rural roads. The results were recently published in the Wheelmen Newsletter.
Thumbnail versions of the group photo and the world-record stack photo are available here.
There are some photos and videos from the 1991 Findlay Meet towards the bottom of our photo gallery page. That meet was a combined Annual Meet of The Wheelmen and the International Veteran Cyclists Association (IVCA).
Photo Galleries
The Ohio Wheelmen photo gallery contains photos of modern Wheelmen participating in Ohio events, regional events, and national meets.
A more extensive Wheelmen photo gallery of today's wheelmen is on The Wheelmen national web site. These are categorized by event and several years of the Sauder Village Regional Meet are included.
Selected photos from the inaugural FORTH race are on this photo gallery page. This race was conducted September 5, 2010 in preparation as an annual event.
How do you ride an Ordinary bicycle?
Here is a short explanation about riding an Ordinary (aka Penny Farthing or High Wheel) bicycle. Jim O'Hagan, one of the bicycle presenters at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, explains and demonstrates how to get on and off an Ordinary and how easy they are to ride. Jim is a member of the Michigan Wheelmen. Notice the Wright Brothers' bicycle shop across the street behind Jim.
Disclaimer: Videos on YouTube following this video are neither sponsored by nor condoned by The Wheelmen or the Ohio Wheelmen.
Fun High Wheel Stuff
Just for fun, here is a 2011 Super Bowl video ad that features high wheel bicycle riders! The son of a California Wheelmen rode in the ad. Other riders are stunt men and professional bicycle racers.
Disclaimer: Videos on YouTube following this video are neither sponsored by nor condoned by The Wheelmen or the Ohio Wheelmen.
Enjoy this short YouTube video about peddlers in the city of Edina.
Disclaimer: Videos on YouTube following this video are neither sponsored by nor condoned by The Wheelmen or the Ohio Wheelmen.
NOTICE: This is a page for the OHIO WHEELMEN.
This material is used with permission.
Most of this material is copyrighted by THE WHEELMEN, the Ohio Wheelmen, or by the noted photographer.Comments or questions regarding this website should be directed to
the Ohio Wheelmen webmaster.This page was last updated on October 23, 2012
This page was created and maintained using a
Macintosh computer, MS Word, Apple Safari, and Fetch.
