Major Taylor Clean Living

Marshall Walter Taylor (1878 — 1932) is a late great African American cyclist better known as Major Taylor. He has been famous as a cyclist since he won a World Championship in track racing in 1899. His bike skills as well as his off-bike humility — and the ability to face prejudice down — has inspired people of all creeds for more than 100 years.

One of the most recent to be inspired? Boston-based Chris Piascik, a graphic designer and artist who just finished a series of drawings on Major Taylor’s guidelines for clean living. They’re worth a gander.

The devout Baptist was a family man, a gentleman, an extraordinary athlete and someone who stuck to a strict moral code. He refused to race on Sundays because of his religious beliefs. It was a decision said to have cost him thousands of dollars in missed prize money.

Piascik was inspired by Taylor when he read an article about Major Taylor on the Freeman Transport blog. “I thought his quotes were great — quirky and interesting,” said Piascik, who hopes to turn the drawings into a book or a ‘zine. “I am an avid cyclist myself and I post daily drawings on my blog. Drawing these quotes provided me lots of content!”

See Piascik’s Major Taylor quote drawings here: http://chrispiascik.com.

—Stephen Krcmar