Oscar Rolland Markel

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A battered but still standing gentleman named Oscar Rolland Markel from Ashland, OH, posing with his beloved Harley-Davidson sidecar rig which is just as equally mangled. Oscar was a truck driver, a policeman, and a contractor in the Ashland area, he even built a roller coaster at the Chippewa Lake Amusement Park and fancied himself an aspiring Wall of Death daredevil. According to the family history site that this photo was found on, Oscar would make periodic trips up to visit one of his brothers who lived on 70 miles north on Lake Erie. There he would load up on as much fish as he could fit into the cooler that he kept in his sidecar. As he returned home to Ashland he would then sell his fresh catch along the way, filling his tanks and pockets as he motored along. There is no mention of the circumstance around his wreck which left the two in such a poor state, but hopefully when the spill occurred it was just a load of dead fish in the sidecar and not his lovely wife Bernice.

Here is the family's website if you would like to learn more about Oscar and his life. FryFamilyAshland.com

The Moto-Snowster

Winter Is Coming... the cold is just around the corner so it is time to start preparing your power-sleds folks. The variety of utilitarian adaptations and applications for which the motorcycle was used as a foundation spans a spectrum from coffee grinders to snow mobiles. In October of 1916, 100 years ago this week Motorcycle Illustrated published a four page spread which included instructions and schematics on how readers could use their own machines, some basic building materials, and a bit of elbow grease to produce their own Motor-Snowsters. That article could very well have been the inspiration for the machine in this photo taken in the dead of winter, 1916, or maybe it was just all of that snow. Built by the driver Mr. Harlan Ramey, a local mechanic from Ames, Iowa, the modified 1913 Harley-Davidson twin was no doubt acquired from his friend and boss Bill Thul who owned and operated Ames Motorcycle Company. Thul, who most likely assisted Ramey in constructing the sled is seen riding on the passenger seat, and the lovely Ms. Niva Nichols, a relative of Thul’s has the coziest seat just behind the chain-laden rear tire. The story goes that after the photo was taken the trio then set off to a local creek which had frozen over to run the machine out at whatever speed they could handle. Good luck with your sleds folks, I look forward to seeing them ripping it up this winter, Im lookin at you @thefrozenfew.

If you want to learn a bit more about Ramey and his wonderful contraption check out the Ames Historical Society page who have put together a great bit of history around the photo.

Board Stars & Brass Knuckles: Charlie Balke

Just a couple of quick followup posts today as some folks have asked about Charlie Balke and Arthur Mitchel from my Board Stars &Brass Knuckles Series. Photos of Jake DeRosier, Robert Stubbs, and Eddie Hasha were included in parts 1, 2, and 3 of the series, but it’d be a shame to leave out the other two founding fathers of speed from the story. If you missed any of the previous posts check out the Archive section Here.

Lastly, here is Charlie Balke, the final player from the Board Stars & Brass Knuckles Series posted last week. Originally from Texas, Balke made a name for himself at LA’s Agriculture Park very early in the sport’s development, just like his contemporary Arthur Mitchel. However, unlike the other competitors at Agriculture, Balke was only 16 years old when he first stepped out onto the track in 1907. At only 19 years old when this photo was taken, Balke had already rocketed into the limelight as one of the west coast’s most promising motorcycle racers. The photo, featuring either Indan’s 7HP (intake over exhaust) No. 23 racer or No. 27 was a promo shot taken in May just before he made his way east. There he was to face off against the biggest names that the eastern states had to offer, first up was the veteran A.G Chapple. The two met at the season opener at the Guttenberg mile in New Jersey where Balke proved his worth by closing out all of the professional events. He continued racing at Guttenberg until June when he was suspended for a month for openly chewing the ass off of a referee who he was in disagreement with concerning a match race. Coincidentally his suspension ended just days before the grand opening of the new Riverview Stadium Motordrome in Chicago where Balke continued to run against, and beat the best the country had to offer. It was also at Riverview where Balke lost his contract with Indian after teammate and rival Jake DeRosier wrote Springfield complaining about the lack of power the duo's machines had when compared to Joe Wolter’s new Excelsior 7, but that is a story for another time. In a matter of days both DeRosier and the young Balke where contracted by Excelsior and provided with the new machines which they would bring to Birmingham two months later.

Board Stars & Brass Knuckles: Arthur Mitchel

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Just a couple of quick followup posts today as some folks have asked about Charlie Balke and Arthur Mitchel from my Board Stars &Brass Knuckles Series. Photos of Jake DeRosier, Robert Stubbs, and Eddie Hasha were included in parts 1, 2, and 3 of the series, but it’d be a shame to leave out the other two founding fathers of speed from the story. If you missed any of the previous posts check out the Archive section HERE.

This is New Orleans native Arthur Mitchel, one of the country’s first professional motorcycle racers he actually built his career in Los Angeles as the sport was first coming together. Despite being one of the top riders around in the fall of 1911, Mitchel didn’t fair too well at the races in Birmingham as his oddball factory Thor was quite outmatched by the speed of the new Excelsior 7 and the youthful daring of both Charlie Balke and Eddie Hasha. A veteran without question of both dirt and boards by 1911, Mitchel was 31 years old, one of the oldest still active in the sport, though his age didn’t seem to effect his performance at the Riverview Stadium Motordrome in Chicago earlier that summer. This photo was taken during a month long clinic Mitchel put on for the younger boys in August on the boards at Riverview, where he claimed top honors in a string of races onboard his 7HP Merkel twin including a new record for a mile with an average speed of over 85 mph.