Endurance walker and cycling pioneer, Louise Armaindo (1861-1900) became known as the “world cycling champion”.
Strong woman
Louise Armaindo was born in 1861 in a small village near Montreal (Canada) under the name of Louise or Louisa Brisebois or Brisbois. Her mother performs in a circus as a "strong woman", and her father is a traveler. Sources on her youth are rare and sometimes unreliable, especially since later, after taking the stage name of Louise Armaindo to perform, she liked to romanticize her existence and her roots.
It is said that she follows her mother's career and in turn works as a trapeze artist and as a "strong woman" in a circus. She would have been able, using a harness, to lift two men from the ground with her teeth, or even to lift more than 300 kilos, improbable feats in which the mark of exaggeration is palpable. Be that as it may, Louise grew weary of a seemingly grueling, dangerous and poorly paid job, and left Canada in the late 1870s to go to Chicago.
On big-bi
In Canada, Louise Armaindo meets the athlete Tom Eck, Canadian like her. As she was interested in endurance walking, popular at the time:practitioners attracted public attention by covering impressive distances, such as Foster Powell who walked 400 miles (640 kilometers) in 1773, or Captain Robert Barclay who in 1809 achieved the feat of walking 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) every hour for 1,000 hours. The public rushes to attend these performances, and finds itself around sports bets; some races offer substantial prizes to the winners. With Tom Eck as her coach, manager – and later husband – Louise embarked on the competitive march and performed at events across the United States.
Like other competitors, Louise was interested in cycling, and in particular in the big bi, which at the time was enjoying a certain popularity among athletes. This bicycle, equipped with a front wheel much larger than the rear wheel, makes it possible to increase the distance traveled for one pedal stroke, and thus improve performance. More complex to maneuver and more dangerous than a classic bike, the big bi is however little adopted by the general public.
First competitions
Louise Armaindo took part in her first competition – of which we have kept track – in 1882, against a man. Cycling competition is still in its infancy, and while male competitors are few, women are even rarer. And if Louise makes it a point of honor to challenge all the women in her discipline, during her career, she will regularly ride against men. In 1882, it is the American cyclist John Prince that she faces, on a race of more than 50 miles (80 kilometers). The cyclist leaves with 5 miles in advance; the race, hotly contested, ends with a victory for John Prince with a lead of about a minute.
The same year, Louise challenged Elsa von Blumen, known as the women's cycling champion. More famous than Louise, Elsa, a former competitive walker too, had hitherto ignored her challenges. The two eventually face off in Ridgeway Park, Philadelphia, and Louise wins. From then on, she was referred to in the press as “The world-champion female cyclist of her time” (the cycling world champion of her time). There is then no women's world championship; the title is self-attributed, but the press concedes it to him.
The world-cycling champion
Thereafter, Louise Armaindo multiplies the performances and competitions - indoors or outdoors -, facing both men and women, as they become more numerous in the discipline, such as Lottie Stanley, Jessie Oakes or even May Allen. In 1883, she beat two male opponents, William J. Morgan and William M. Woodside, in a 6 x 12 hour race, and set a distance record by running 843 miles (1,357 kilometers). That's an average of 19 kilometers per hour for 72 hours...
The same year, on a handicap race in 6 x 3 hours in Milwaukee, Louise confirms her first victory by beating again the same two male opponents. The following year, in San Francisco, she sought revenge on John Prince in a 72-hour race, and finished tied with him. In 1886, in Minneapolis, she beat Fred M Shaw in a 26-hour race.
Louise also tries her hand at tandem. In 1886, associated with William J. Morgan, she won the distance record in 24 hours with 250 miles (402 kilometers) as well as the time record for the distance of 100 miles (160 kilometers), covered in 7 hours and 57 minutes .
End of career
At the end of the 1880s, the domination of Louise Armaindo over the world of cycling and in particular women's cycling was dwindling. Newcomers such as Jessie Oakes, Hattie Brown and Jelen Baldwin in New York and 1889 or Lottie Stanley, May Allen, Jessie Woods and Lillie Williams in Sheffield (England) beat her in indoor races. In 1893, the cyclist finally put an end to her career.
After leaving the world of sports, Louise takes a job as a waitress in a restaurant in Minneapolis. The Sporting Life newspaper of Philadelphia will write:
“There are many men who contest the tittle of father of American cycling, but there are no women who want to debate the claims of Louise Armaindo’s right to be called the mother of it. Louise was (…) the first to claim for herself the proud tittle of “lady cyclist”. Louise raced men, women, horses, sheriffs, Ecks and almost everything else that thought it had any chance to do this fair and gentle queen of cycling. To-day the ex queen of the cinder path races back and forth through the length of a Minneapolis restaurant in the humble guise of a waiter girl. (…) How sad is the sight of fallen and forgotten royalty? »
"Many men claim the title of the father of American cycling, but few women want to oppose Louise Armaindo's claims to be called its mother. Louise was (…) the first to claim the title of “lady cyclist”. Louise raced against men, women, horses, sheriffs, Ecks and almost anyone who thought she had a chance of beating this queen of cycling. Today the former queen of the slopes travels the length of a Minneapolis restaurant in the humble guise of a waitress. (…) What sadness is the sight of a fallen and forgotten royalty? »
Louise Armaindo died in 1900.