William "Willie" Spencer (November 11, 1895 – October 2, 1963) was a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

American professional

bicycle racer Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling ...

in the early 1900s. A world record holder for the quarter mile, he also won the American Sprint Championship three times.

History

The English-born Spencer entered the world of professional bicycle racing in 1916. He had several significant victories in his early years, including twice placing 4th in the American Sprint Championship, before he was drafted for six months of service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. After his release in January 1919, Spencer continued racing, clocking victories around the world and, in 1920, setting a world record while racing in Australia for doing in 25 seconds. In 1922, 1923 and 1926, he won the American Sprint Championship. Spencer became an American citizen in 1947.United States Bicycle Hall of Fame http://www.usbhof.com/2005-inductees/ He was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2005.

References

1895 births 1963 deaths American male cyclists American track cyclists British emigrants to the United States {{US-cycling-bio-stub