The city of Shelby is known for the history of the Shelby bicycle, manufactured at the Shelby Cycle Co. located in the heart of town. Visitors to Shelby Bicycle Days July 10, 11 and 12 will be able to relive that history by way of the festival’s Historic Bike Walk down Main Street.
The idea of a walkable timeline highlighting the history of the Shelby bicycle came as a way to incorporate both the downtown area of the city as well as focusing the festival on the bike. Festival Director Cody Albert explained the Shelby Bicycle Days committee wanted to extend the borders of the festival to bring more foot traffic to the downtown merchants, as well as providing a convenient display for the historical bikes.
“The festival doesn’t lend itself to being a rain and wind free zone, so naturally downtown storefronts were a great alternative,” said Albert. “It has been nearly 10 years since a large effort was put into gathering a large collection of Shelby bikes. The tricky part is that these bikes have to be well protected from the elements due to the historical nature of the antiques.”
The downtown store windows will display 20 historical bikes a well as a number of museum-quality window graphics. The graphics share many stories about the Shelby Cycle Co., including how the Whippets got their name. Christina Yetzer Drain, Communication and Marketing Coordinator at The Ohio State University Mansfield campus, took on the task of collecting the historical facts.
“I grew up here and I don’t really have a connection to Shelby bicycles like a lot of people do in the area, but I’m just generally interested in history,” said Drain. “So I started talking to (Festival Director) Christina Thompson about how to get more involved in the community, and she knew I was interested in history so she suggested working on this project.”
With not much written about the history of the Shelby bicycle, Drain had to go digging. The entire process took her around two to three months, during which she learned many previously unknown facts.
“I didn’t know where the Shelby Whippets got their name, and actually in a roundabout way it came through the Shelby Cycle Co. because one of their salesmen, George Evans, remarked during a football game that the running backs ran like whippets,” she explained. “I’m sure people in this area would’ve never known what a whippet was unless George wouldn’t have said it.”
Drain noted there are many collectors of Shelby bikes and Shelby memorabilia Many of them generously donated their bikes to the downtown displays.
“We are grateful for their generosity, and it’s exciting to know that there are so many locals who have painstakingly restored bikes,” said Albert. “We also are making a strong effort to capture the stories of locals who had Shelby Cycles so that these stories aren’t lost in the future. In order to capture these stories we have created the ‘My Shelby’ campaign. Throughout the festival we will be capturing the stories of locals who had Shelby bikes so that we have these memories forever.”
Each downtown window with a Shelby Cycle on display will be easily identified with a Historic Bike Walk marker. Albert added the long-term plan is to grow the timeline each year until the entire downtown is filled with stories and bikes.
“We hope this adds an historic element to the festival, something that people can reminisce about,” said Albert. “We also hope that it connects the dots for festival attendees that don’t quite understand why Shelby has a festival dedicated to the bicycle.”
Eventually the Historic Bike Walk may become a month-long attraction dedicated to sharing the history of the Shelby community.
“I’ve done history projects before, but this is something people will be able to walk downtown and trace the history of bicycles, and read history to their kids,” said Drain. “I think it’s going to be a great addition to Bicycle Days.”
“We hope that people can take a few minutes, stroll downtown Shelby and enjoy the history of the Shelby Cycle Co.,” added Albert. “There are so many fascinating bikes and stories, I’m glad we have been able to capture them.”
“We hope this adds an historic element to the festival, something that people can reminisce about,” said Cody Albert. “We also hope that it connects the dots for festival attendees that don’t quite understand why Shelby has a festival dedicated to the bicycle.”
