Nathaniel Butler (January 6, 1870 – May 24, 1943) was an American pioneer professional cyclist. On track he won a bronze medal in the

motor-paced racing Motor-paced racing and motor-paced cycling refer to cycling behind a pacer in a car or more usually on a motorcycle. The cyclist (or stayer in this case) follows as close as they can to benefit from the slipstream of their pacer. The first paced ...

at the 1909 World Championships. On the road he won the Luiscott Race in 1893 and finished second in the New York six-day race in 1903. His brothers

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and Frank were also competitive cyclists. Butler was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, in a family of a craftsman and grew up in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. He won his first race, the Luiscott Race, in 1893 and received as prize two diamonds and a horse with carriage. He then turned professional, and competed in motor-paced racing at the 1899 World Championships, together with brother Tom. Tom finished second and Nat placed fourth. Butler finished second in the New York six-day race in 1903, and from 1905 on competed in Europe. During his first year in Europe he participated in the famous

Bol d'Or The Bol d’Or is a 24-hour endurance race for motorcycles, held annually in France. The riding of each bike is now shared by a team of three riders. History The Bol d’Or, first organized by Eugene Mauve, in 1922, was a race for motorcycles ...

on Paris' Buffalo track, where he finished third. He retired around 1910 and in 1913 took over the velodrome "Revere Cycletrack" near his hometown of Cambridge. In later years, he became an established landscape painter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Nat 1870 births 1943 deaths American male cyclists