1867: The World Debut of a Champion Racer of Bicycles, Tricycles, Motorcycles, and Automobiles

January 8, 1867

George Pilkington Mills, who earned acclaim as a formidable competitor in races involving various modes of transportation, was born in Paddington (an area in the City of Westminster within central London). Mills firmly established himself as the preeminent English racing cyclist of his generation. He set numerous racing records on both bicycles and tricycles.

One of Mills’ biggest claims to fame involved winning the inaugural edition of the Bordeaux-Paris professional cycle race — encompassing about 350 miles (560 kilometers) between the aforementioned French cities — in 1891. He completed this race in 26 hours, 26 minutes, and 25 seconds.

Mills eventually earned further victories and fame as a participant in both motorcycle and automobile races. In 1904, he set a new record when he took only 50 hours, 46 minutes, and 30 seconds to finish a motorcycle race between the headland of Land’s End in southwestern England and the village of John o’Groats in northeastern Scotland.

In 1907, Mills won the Tourist Trophy (TT) Race. This high-risk road race was held on the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea. The vehicle that Mills drove in this competition was a Beeston-Humber Humber motorcar.

Mills died in the City of Westminster on November 8, 1945. He was 78. (The attached drawing of Mills appeared in a May 1891 edition of the Paris-based newspaper Le Petit Journal.)

Image Credit: Public Domain

For more information on George Pilkington Mills, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pilkington_Mills