<p>

The students of the most prestigious

Kyiv gymnasium during a cycle racing competition in the late

nineteenth century (now the “Yellow building” of the Kyiv Taras

Shevchenko University). The gymnasium garden serves as a cycle track.

In the late nineteenth century the high society of Kyiv was really

enraptured by the bicycle; besides, some new ways to use bicycles

were searched for. Due to lack of hard and flat road surface and

shortcomings of the first rubber wheels, bikes were not very widely

used as a means of urban transport till the late nineteenth century.

However, cycle races and bike trips became quite popular at that

time. Cycle races gathered a lot of bike owners regularly, as well as

spectators who were ready to pay for this sports show. In the

picture, there are gymnasium students exercising in high-speed

racing; this fact indicates that cycle racing was one of the

encouraging sports in prestigious educational institutions.</p><p><i>Olga Martyniuk</i></p>