Cycling in South America, 1880-1920

Historians have tended to ignore the South American experience of cycling. The continent’s diverse history of sports has been effaced by a popular and academic focus on soccer. The global history of cycling has therefore omitted South America from its analysis, perpetuating mistaken assumptions about the continent’s absence from technological and social innovation. This article analyses the sources located across the continent to demonstrate that cyclists raced, toured, and did acrobatics, often watched by thousands of spectators, attracting the attention of chroniclers and the media. The physical sensations of travelling through the environment on a pedal-powered machine were new and unexpected. With its focus on cycling as sport, recreation and mode of transport, this article inserts South America into the early global history of cycling.