John Keen (cyclist)

John Thompson Keen was born on 25 February 1849 at Broadway in the county of Worcestershire,[1] England, and lived in Surbiton, Surrey from the age of five.

Also known as ‘Happy Jack’, John Keen trained as a carpenter but his passion was the new sport of cycling on high bicycles (penny-farthing) which were newly developed from the velocipede.

[4] By 1878 he was internationally reputed to be the fastest rider in the world, the professional champion of England [5] and his name appeared on advertisements (in 1879) for the Columbia bicycle manufactured in the USA which stated his achievement of 1 mile in 2 minutes and 43 seconds (22 mph).

In 1879 Keen, together with David Stanton and William Cann were invited to race in the United States against inexperienced local opposition.

A printed notice held in the papers of the Cyclists' Touring Club[7] reassures the public that he is still making his Eclipse bicycles to which there are significant improvements this year (September 1877).