Floyd Alfred MacFarland (July 9, 1878 – April 17, 1915) was an American

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

and pioneer of

six-day racing Six-day cycling is a track cycling event that competes over six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initially, ...

Career

MacFarland competed mainly in sprint events early in his career, having won the national championships in this discipline. One of his biggest rivals was

Major Taylor Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor (November 26, 1878 – June 21, 1932) was an African-American professional cyclist. Even by modern cycling standards, Taylor could be considered the greatest American sprinter of all time. He was born and raised ...

, whose grandparents had been slaves. MacFarland, who was the descendant of a Virginia plantation owner, was known to be racist. He even founded his own national racing association, the Cycle Racing Association, to exclude Taylor from competitions. In the following years, MacFarland concentrated on six-day races and

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

races. After retiring from competition, he became one of the leading race promoters and managers in the nation up until his death in 1915.

Death

In April 1915, MacFarland was stabbed to death with a screwdriver while training at the

Newark Velodrome The Newark Velodrome was a bicycle track located on South Orange Avenue in Newark, New Jersey. It measured six laps to the mile, or 293 yards per lap. The track was built in 1907. The Newark Tornadoes of the National Football League also played s ...

, after being involved in a dispute with David Lantenberg, a refreshments seller who had used screws to put up a billboard by the track. MacFarland, who was the director of the track, had forbidden this as the screws would often come loose and pose a danger to cyclists. When MacFarland tried to take the screwdriver from Lantenberg, the latter accidentally stabbed him in the back of the head with the tool; horrified by his own deed, Lantenberg took MacFarland to the hospital in his car, however he died there. 1,500 people followed the funeral procession at the funeral. Lantenberg was charged with manslaughter but acquitted in June of that year.

Major results

;1896 : 1st MaillotUSA

Sprint, National Amateur Track Championships ;1900 : 1st

Six Days of New York The Six Days of New York was a former six-day cycling event, held in New York City, in Madison Square Garden's velodrome. Between 1899 and 1961, a total of 73 editions were held, sometimes three per year.Gabriele, Michael C. (2011), The Golden Ag ...

(with

Harry Elkes Harry D. Elkes (28 February 1878 – 30 May 1903) was an American cyclist. He was professional from 1897 until his death in 1903. Elkes held the world record for "paced-cycle racing" during most of his career and just prior to his fatal accident ...

) ;1901 : 1st MaillotUSA

Madison, National Track Championships ;1902 : 1st Six Days of Boston (with Otto Maya) ;1904 : 1st MaillotUSA

Madison, National Track Championships ;1908 : 1st

(with

Jim Moran James Patrick Moran Jr. (born May 16, 1945) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia from 1985 to 1990, and as the U.S. representative for (including the cities of Falls Church and Alexandria, all of Arlington ...

) ;1909 : 1st Six Days of Berlin (with

)

References

External links

* 1878 births 1915 deaths American male cyclists Sportspeople from San Jose, California American track cyclists Deaths by stabbing in the United States American murder victims People murdered in New Jersey {{US-cycling-bio-stub