Jack Lauterwasser
Encyclopedia
John "Jack" Jacob Lauterwasser (London
, England
, June 4, 1904 – Somerset
, England
,February 2, 2003) was an English
racing cyclist and cycling engineer, who won a bronze and silver medal in the same race at the 1928 Summer Olympics
in Amsterdam
.
, London
, where they lived in poor housing. His father was returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1914 and Lauterwasser lived with his mother and the rest of her children. They moved to Highbury
in north London and Lauterwasser worked as a cycling delivery boy for a grocery store.
He said: "We lived above a greengrocer's and the shopkeeper let me borrow the bike."
cycling club
in 1924 and won his first race, his club's 25-mile time trial
for novices, when he was 13. He began riding longer races, including time-trials that lasted 12 hours. "I really was a novice, a greenhorn won knew nothing, but in my first season I progressed to being club champ and winning some good time-trials," he said. He broke the Road Records Association
50-mile record in 1928.(ref RRA General Secretary)
and cycled there from London. He won a silver medal in the 160 km road race event at the Amsterdam Olympics. The race was run against the clock as an individual time trial, a British speciality, with riders starting at two-minute intervals. Lauterwasser finished fifth in 5h 2m 57s. He and his team-mates, Frank Southall
(second) and John Middleton (26th), were originally judged third best team but were raised to second after Italy
was disqualified. Lauterwasser had already returned home with his bronze medal. He was then sent the silver medal as well and was never asked to return the bronze, he said. It took him a further two years to get the silver medal from his club; "Our club secretary's wife considered it belonged to the club," he said. He kept both medals in a biscuit tin.
50-mile record by almost three minutes with lhr 54m 47s and the 100-mile record by more than 18 minutes, in 4hr 13m 35s.
He won the Polytechnic CC 12-hour race with a record 237.8 miles. Lauterwasser and others believed he had ridden further, that he had been first to cover 240 miles. Seven years later the course was remeasured and Lauterwasser was credited with 240m 76 yards, making his total distance 240 miles 76 yds, the first rider to exceed 20 mph.(ref Finsbury Park CC archives)
named after him. His lightest Lauterweight bicycle weighed 17.5 lb. The business was not a success, however.
The shop closed and he joined Rudge
. He moved to BSA
during the Second World War
and made folding bicycle
s for parachutists. He moved to Raleigh
when peace returned and worked as a sales rep in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1965 he joined Alex Moulton
at Bradford-on-Avon, making bicycles with suspension. He continued working until he was 90. He died after a fall at home broke his leg.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, June 4, 1904 – Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,February 2, 2003) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
racing cyclist and cycling engineer, who won a bronze and silver medal in the same race at the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Background
Jack Lauterwasser - he pronounced it Law-tuh-woss-uh with the "w" as in English - was the son of a German who emigrated to France in the late 19th century and then to England. His parents ran a pie shop near Oxford StreetOxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they lived in poor housing. His father was returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1914 and Lauterwasser lived with his mother and the rest of her children. They moved to Highbury
Highbury
- Early Highbury :The area now known as Islington was part of the larger manor of Tolentone, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tolentone was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Road. The manor house was situated by what is now...
in north London and Lauterwasser worked as a cycling delivery boy for a grocery store.
He said: "We lived above a greengrocer's and the shopkeeper let me borrow the bike."
Early cycling
Lauterwasser joined Finsbury ParkFinsbury Park
Finsbury Park is a 46 hectare public park in the London Borough of Haringey. Officially part of the London area of Harringay, it is also adjacent to Stroud Green, the Finsbury Park district and Manor House. It was one of the first of the great London parks laid out in the Victorian...
cycling club
Cycling club
A cycling club is a society for cyclists. It can be local or national, general or specialised. The Cyclists' Touring Club, CTC) in the United Kingdom is a national association; i-Team and are internet clubs; the Tricycle Association, Tandem Club and the Veterans Time Trial Association, for those...
in 1924 and won his first race, his club's 25-mile time trial
Time trial
In many racing sports an athlete will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. In cycling, for example, a time trial can be a single track cycling event, or an individual or team time trial on the road, and either or both of the latter may form components of...
for novices, when he was 13. He began riding longer races, including time-trials that lasted 12 hours. "I really was a novice, a greenhorn won knew nothing, but in my first season I progressed to being club champ and winning some good time-trials," he said. He broke the Road Records Association
Road Records Association
The Road Records Association is a British cycle racing organisation which supervises records on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the world, formed in 1888.-Remit:...
50-mile record in 1928.(ref RRA General Secretary)
Olympic Games
Lauterwasser was picked for the 1928 Olympic Games in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and cycled there from London. He won a silver medal in the 160 km road race event at the Amsterdam Olympics. The race was run against the clock as an individual time trial, a British speciality, with riders starting at two-minute intervals. Lauterwasser finished fifth in 5h 2m 57s. He and his team-mates, Frank Southall
Frank Southall
William Frank Southall was an English racing cyclist who won silver medals for Great Britain in the individual road race at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a track cycling medal at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles...
(second) and John Middleton (26th), were originally judged third best team but were raised to second after Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was disqualified. Lauterwasser had already returned home with his bronze medal. He was then sent the silver medal as well and was never asked to return the bronze, he said. It took him a further two years to get the silver medal from his club; "Our club secretary's wife considered it belonged to the club," he said. He kept both medals in a biscuit tin.
Other cycling
In the same year as the Olympics, Lauterwasser broke the Road Records AssociationRoad Records Association
The Road Records Association is a British cycle racing organisation which supervises records on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the world, formed in 1888.-Remit:...
50-mile record by almost three minutes with lhr 54m 47s and the 100-mile record by more than 18 minutes, in 4hr 13m 35s.
He won the Polytechnic CC 12-hour race with a record 237.8 miles. Lauterwasser and others believed he had ridden further, that he had been first to cover 240 miles. Seven years later the course was remeasured and Lauterwasser was credited with 240m 76 yards, making his total distance 240 miles 76 yds, the first rider to exceed 20 mph.(ref Finsbury Park CC archives)
Retirement
Lauterwasser opened a cycle shop in Holloway Road, London, in 1929. He built lightweight bicycles to order and created a design of handlebarBicycle handlebar
Bicycle handlebar or often bicycle handlebars refers to the steering mechanism for bicycles; the equivalent of a steering wheel. Besides steering, handlebars also often support a portion of the rider's weight, depending on their riding position, and provide a convenient mounting place for brake...
named after him. His lightest Lauterweight bicycle weighed 17.5 lb. The business was not a success, however.
- Those were great times, especially in the immediate postwar years, but then, at the dawn of the Sixties, the bubble burst. The advent of the motor scooter, the mopedMopedMopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...
and the cheap car spelt the end of cycling's popularity with commuters and the sport took a major dip, too.
The shop closed and he joined Rudge
Rudge
Rudge may refer to:*Rudge Cup*Rudge-Whitworth, a motorcycle manufacturer*Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, a novel by Charles Dickens-People:*Dale Rudge, English footballer*Daniel Rudge , English engineer...
. He moved to BSA
BSA
-Organizations:* Baltimore School for the Arts* Bank Secrecy Act* Bearing Specialists Association* Belarusian Socialist Assembly* Bhutan Scouts Association* Bibliographical Society of America* Birmingham School of Acting...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and made folding bicycle
Folding bicycle
A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings and workplaces or onto public transportation or more easily stored in compact living quarters or aboard a car, boat or plane...
s for parachutists. He moved to Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
when peace returned and worked as a sales rep in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1965 he joined Alex Moulton
Alex Moulton
Dr. Alexander Eric Moulton CBE is an English engineer and inventor, specialising in suspension design.Moulton is the great-grandson of the rubber pioneer Stephen Moulton, the founder of the family business George Spencer Moulton & Co...
at Bradford-on-Avon, making bicycles with suspension. He continued working until he was 90. He died after a fall at home broke his leg.