Madison Square Garden (1890)

The second Madison Square Garden, on Madison Square, New York City, demolished in 1926.

At a glance

SourceAuthorRoleIn one line
It’s All About the Bike - In Pursuit of Happiness on Two WheelsRobert PennsettingThe ‘Super Bowl of Sixes’, where Penn would time-travel to.

It’s All About the Bike — Robert Penn (2010)

Source: It’s All About the Bike - In Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels · Readwise highlight

The annual races at Madison Square Garden were the largest and most spectacular sporting events of the era, dubbed the ‘Super Bowl of Sixes’.

  • Role: setting
  • In the book: Penn describes the Garden’s six-day races from the 1890s to the 1920s: Major Taylor collapsing in 1896, Charlie Miller winning in 1897, Alf Goullet’s record in 1914, and 125,000 spectators in 1922. If he had a time machine, he says, this is where he would go.
  • Why it matters: The peak of the six-day craze, and the book’s most romantic setting for bike racing.