a machine of his own design—the "Whitworth." Standing now 6 feet 2 inches high, and weighing 12 stone, he bids fair to remain our premier racing cyclist for some time.
George Pilkington Mills.
George Pilkington Mills.
From a Photo. by Barraud.
As Mr. Osmond is a king among cycling champions on the racing path, so Mr. G. P. Mills is a king among those of the road. Like Mr. Osmond, too, Mr. Mills is an engineer, and also like him he has devoted some of his professional knowledge to the design of cycles. Further, both were born in the same year, Mr. Mills, however, being somewhat the elder. Although a Londoner by birth (having been born in Bayswater), the earlier of his great feats were credited to him as a Liverpudlian, the Mersey city being his place of residence at the time. Like many famous cyclists, Mr. Mills "began early," by riding, at the age of thirteen, a 44-inch ordinary bicycle—and riding it well, too. At the age of fifteen lengthened legs brought a taller machine, and in the following year he won his first prize in a two-mile race at his school (Liverpool College) sports. The list of his early road-riding feats—even from the age of sixteen—is, though wonderful, beyond our space. On July 6, 1885, he accomplished on a tricycle what was at that time considered the wonderful distance of 202 miles, and added some equally fine performances on the tall bicycle.
On August 22 he secured his first world's record, by winning the Anfield Club's twenty-four hours race, covering 259 miles on his 53-inch bicycle, and beating the second man by a trifle of 50 miles. Not bad for a lad of eighteen. In July of 1886 he made the first of his famous journeys from Land's End to John o' Groat's, astounding the wheel world by accomplishing the long and difficult ride in 5 days 12 hours, on an "ordinary," beating the previous record by 30 hours. A month after, he beat his own twenty-four hours ordinary bicycle record by riding 273 miles—a record which stood until last year, when it was beaten by the rider of a pneumatic. The rest of this year was signalised by a series of equally brilliant feats. He broke the Land's End to John o' Groat's tricycle record by 2912 hours, won the North Road Club's twenty-four hours race, beat the 50 miles tandem record with Mr. A. J. Wilson, and beat the 50 miles safety record in time which few men indeed could now equal on modern pneumatic machines. The year's work was crowned by another attack on the twenty-four hours record, which was raised to 295 miles, the machine breaking twenty minutes before the finish. In 1887, after beating the Southern Counties' 50 miles record, he did a little path work, and much surprised those who believed him to be a road rider alone, by beating the redoubtable Cripps level in a mile tricycle race, and winning medals in the tricycling championships. Soon, however, he left this for his more legitimate sphere, the road. On June 10 he beat the 50 mile tricycle record against a bad wind. In July he visited Holland, and astonished the natives by winning their 100 kilomètre road championship in the most hollow fashion, beating the second man by half an hour. The North Road Club's twenty-four hours ride this year gave him the opportunity of beating the twenty-four hours tricycle record, and this he did by covering 264 miles, with five hours of rain and wind storm.
Three weeks after, in another race held by the North Road Club, he beat the 100 miles tricycle record, and a week after this, with Mr. R. Tingey, he again beat the twenty-four hours tandem record—riding 29812 miles. By this time Mr. Mills's records were put at such a figure as to be regarded as unassailable. Nevertheless, since nobody else tried, he set to work in 1888 and beat
