The bicycle had been around for nearly half a century before the first high wheeler rattled down Poulett Street in Owen Sound in 1889. It was ridden by Alfred J. Frost, resplendent in knickerbockers and deerstalker cap, perched high on his Ordinary. Five feet above the hard-packed street, Frost waved to the good citizens of the town.
Frost, a sometime inventor whose 1901 automobile would be only the third to be built in Canada, was a thinker who believed firmly in progress. Bicycles, automobiles and motorboats were among the passions that would occupy his life. Alfred had first seen the marvelous two-wheeled machine in Toronto’s Queen’s Park. He had to have one to take home to Owen Sound.
Frost returned with his new bicycle, learning to ride it at the Pleasure Grounds where he was hotly purchased by entranced boys and girls, concerned parents and a pack of fascinated dogs. Alfred soon became somewhat of a bicycling fool. In spite of his growing reputation for furious riding, he inspired his fellow men to join him in this self-propelled miracle of transportation. Within a few months the maple lanes of Owen Sound were host to phalanxes of wheelmen, mustachioed and serious, peddling furiously in an attempt to stay upright.
It wasn’t long before the first bicycle repair shop was in business. As was usual for the day, blacksmiths were among the first to turn their talents from the horse to the bike. And then, bicycles went on sale in the town. Of course, they could always be ordered from the Eaton’s Catalogue. But soon, bicycle shops could be found in nearly every Georgian Bay village or town of any size.
Originally aired May 2nd 2016
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