John Jacob Lauterwasser (4 June 1904 – 2 February 2003) was an English racing

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

and cycling engineer, who won a bronze and silver medal in the same race at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

.''The Times'' obituary, 7 February 2003
/ref>

Background

Jack Lauterwasser - he pronounced it ''Law-tuh-woss-uh'' with the "w" as in English - was the son of a German who emigrated to France in the late 19th century and then to England. His parents ran a pie shop near

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where they lived in poor housing. His father was returned to Germany at the outbreak of war in 1914 and Lauterwasser lived with his mother and the rest of her children. They moved to

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

in north London and Lauterwasser worked as a cycling delivery boy for a grocery store.Bikdebiz News Jack Lauterwasser bike pioneer and racer dies age 98
/ref> He said: "We lived above a greengrocer's and the shopkeeper let me borrow the bike."Jack the Lad, Cycling Plus, UK, January 2000, p34

Early cycling

Lauterwasser joined

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...

cycling club A cycling club or cycling organisation is a society for cyclists. Clubs tend to be mostly local, and can be general or specialised. They can focus on cycle racing and/or cycling as a means of transport (utility cycling). In the United Kingdom, ...

in 1924 and won his first race, his club's 25-mile

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

for novices, when he was 13. He began riding longer races, including time-trials that lasted 12 hours. "I really was a novice, a greenhorn who knew nothing, but in my first season I progressed to being club champ and winning some good time-trials," he said. He broke the

Road Records Association The Road Records Association (RRA) is a British road bicycle racing, cycle racing organisation which supervises Cycling records, records on the road but not in conventional races. It is one of the oldest cycle sport organisations in the worl ...

50-mile record in 1928.(ref RRA General Secretary)

Olympic Games

Lauterwasser was picked for the 1928 Olympic Games in

and cycled there from London. He won a silver medal in the 160 km road race event at the Amsterdam Olympics. The race was run against the clock as an individual time trial, a British speciality, with riders starting at two-minute intervals. Lauterwasser finished fifth in 5h 2m 57s. He and his team-mates,

Frank Southall William Frank Southall (2 July 1904 – 1 March 1964) was an English racing cyclist who won silver medals for Great Britain in the individual road race (run as an individual time trial) at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a track cycling medal ...

(second) and John Middleton (26th), were originally judged third best team but were raised to second after

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

was disqualified. Lauterwasser had already returned home with his bronze medal. He was then sent the silver medal as well and was never asked to return the bronze, he said. It took him a further two years to get the silver medal from his club; "Our club secretary's wife considered it belonged to the club," he said.Price, Mike (2000), Days of Gold and Glory, UK, privately published, p34 He kept both medals in a biscuit tin.

Other cycling

In the same year as the Olympics, Lauterwasser broke the

50-mile record by almost three minutes with lhr 54m 47s and the 100-mile record by more than 18 minutes, in 4hr 13m 35s. He won the Polytechnic CC 12-hour race with a record 237.8 miles. Lauterwasser and others believed he had ridden further, that he had been first to cover 240 miles. Seven years later the course was remeasured and Lauterwasser was credited with 240 miles 76 yards, making his total distance 240 miles 76 yds, the first rider to exceed 20 mph.(ref Finsbury Park CC archives)

Retirement

Lauterwasser opened a cycle shop in Holloway Road, London, in 1929. He built lightweight bicycles to order and created a design of handlebar named after him. His lightest Lauterweight bicycle weighed 17.5 lb. The business was not a success, however. :Those were great times, especially in the immediate postwar years, but then, at the dawn of the Sixties, the bubble burst. The advent of the motor scooter, the

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. Historically, the term exclusively meant a similar vehicle with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle eng ...

and the cheap car spelt the end of cycling's popularity with commuters and the sport took a major dip, too. The shop closed and he joined

Rudge Rudge may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Rudge, Shropshire, England, a settlement and civil parish * Rudge, Somerset, England, a hamlet * Rugde (Kristiansand), a neighbourhood in Kristiansand, Norway People * Rudge (surname) Other uses * Rudge C ...

. He moved to BSA during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and made

folding bicycle A folding bicycle is designed to be compacted into a smaller, more manageable size or shape, making it easier to store or carry . When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mo ...

s for

parachutists Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For hu ...

. He moved to

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

when peace returned and worked as a sales rep in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1965 he joined

Alex Moulton Alexander Eric Moulton (9 April 1920 – 9 December 2012) was an English engineer and inventor, specialising in Suspension (vehicle), suspension design. Early life and education Moulton's father, John Coney Moulton, was a naturalist working in ...

Bradford-on-Avon Bradford-on-Avon (sometimes Bradford on Avon) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire, England, near the border with Somerset. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restauran ...

, making bicycles with suspension. He continued working until he was 90. He died after a fall at home where he broke his leg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauterwasser, Jack 1904 births 2003 deaths English male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in cycling British people of German descent Cyclists from London Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics 20th-century English sportsmen