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| Bantams being used for cycle pacing |
Motorpace racing was glamorous but dangerous. Falls were common, largely
because bicycle tires tended to burst at speed. The riders wore neither
helmets nor gloves. They depended on fast reflexes, the rude health of
youth, and luck. Despite having all three, Bobby Walthour collected an
impressive (or dismaying) inventory of injuries over his career: 28
fractures of the right collarbone, 18 of the left, 32 broken ribs, and
60 stitches to his face and head. Once, according to family history, he
was given up for dead in Paris and taken to a morgue, where he regained
consciousness on the slab. link
