Reggie McNamara

Reggie McNamara (born Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia, 7 November 1887, died Belleville, New Jersey, United States, October 1970 or 1971 or 1972 ) was an Australian cyclist known as a roughhouse velodrome rider with a string of dramatic crashes and broken bones over 20 years.

Background Reggie McNamara grew up in the Australian countryside, the son of a sheep rancher. A snake bit him on a finger when he was 12 and hunting rabbits with his brother. He and his brother chopped off the finger with an axe. He and his 13 brothers and sisters learned to ride on the same bicycle. He began racing for money in local fairs around Sydney,

International career

"Reggie did crash a lot. But he caused a lot of his crashes. He would go and go and ride himself dead and then fall down." — The American rider, Bill Honeman, quoted by historian Peter Nye.

When a reporter asked McNamara if he parted his hair down the middle because movie star Rudolph Valentino did, he shook his head:"That's just so the sawbones has a centre point to start from." and then in a school kitchen. He wrote his life story but failed to find a publisher. lasted NINE HOURS, with teams all over the track as if in a marathon pursuit. The 12th and 13th teams to finish were 17 laps back at the end (the Vel' d'Hiv' was about seven laps to a mile). No wonder Mac fell asleep in the taxi when I took him back to a hotel. Such punishing efforts could hardly be done on mineral water and Mac had his secrets. He kept them in a small case and, if I was keeper of the key, I never found out what they were made of. There were all kinds of pills in phials without any names on them, and I knew it was useless to ask Mac what they were. But I guess Mac knew what he was doing.

Anecdote The magazine Time believed in 1932 that it had found another Iron Man. It reported: Most celebrated of McNamara's confreres is Franco Giorgetti, a small knock-kneed Italian who finished a sulky last in last week's race, but failed to butt his head against a wall for losing as he did once. Obviously heir to Iron McNamara, Giorgetti was once pierced by an eight-inch splinter which he sent to his father to be exhibited. He earns $28,000 per year, has a barber shave him every day of the race, frequently dines on rice, lobster and beer with Tenor Benjiamino Gigli of the Metropolitan Opera Company. !!Year !!Event!!Partner!!Number