Bodaj to cykliści! – (nie)zwyczajni jeźdźcy wyścigowi z przełomu XIX i XX wieku

Abstract

A breakthrough date in the history of cycling on Polish lands under partition it was founded in 1886 The Cycling Society in Warsaw. Cycling at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was a popular form of entertainment among men. Belonging to a sports organization was an expression of good taste and a way to develop physical fitness. The different degree of involvement of a man in a new form of entertainment is the reason for perceiving supporters of this sport in terms of amateurs and professionals, but also the authors of the first studies in the field of cycling or representatives of thriving companies. Due to the fact that there were many outstanding and talented people in the circle of cyclists, they were remarked as a group dynamically operating in various fields: sport, cultural, social and also charitable, which gave them the title of „elastic”.