A poster for the ''Man v Woman'' Great Pursuit Cycling Race at the Chatham Football Ground 1st August 1898, between Miss Rosa Blackburn and F. James,

A poster for the ''Man v Woman'' Great Pursuit Cycling Race at the Chatham Football Ground 1st August 1898, between Miss Rosa Blackburn and F. James, printed by W & J Mackay & Co. Ltd., Chatham, 50 by 75cm., 19 3/4 by 29 1/2in. Mixed gender cycling races were a popular spectacle in the late Victorian period. Rosa Blackburn was the English women's cycling champion and record holder for the mile. Frank James Meddings was the 1897 winner off what was known as the 'London Sixes' held on an indoor velodrome-style wooden track at Royal Aquarium in Westminster, London. Rosa Blackburn also competed in this event which had a first prize of ?100. The couple were later married at Islington, London, in 1902. An account of the 1897 6 Days Race was carried in The Standard (London) on 9th June 1897: The men and women's six days' bicycle race at The Royal Aquarium was brought to a conclusion on Saturday, there being a large crowd present to witness the final stage. The conditions were that the riders ride three and a half hours per day, the men riding in one section, and the women in another. At the race's conclusion Frank James Meddings covered 392 miles and 1 lap. The runner-up E. Ramsey completed 391 miles and 7 laps. The three ladies in the race Miss Anderson, Miss Pattison & Miss Blackburn finished the marathon event each a wheel's length apart in the final sprint, after 380 miles and 6 laps.