him for the rest of his life. He got on well with the circus people, who let him ride the horses at rehearsals. The acrobats and trapeze artists, too, were his friends and he learned many of their tricks. At 18 he could do a double somersault between two trapezes – quite a feat. This account clashes with the claim that only the two sons were born when the family moved to France. Cycling career The first cycle race - St-Cloud Moore joined the Véloce cycling club of Paris after 1868. He began racing at the meeting held in the park at St-Cloud, west of Paris, on 31 May 1868. Moore's race is widely cited as the first formal cycle race in history and a plaque was added to the park railings to mark the event. But the validity of the claim is contested in Keizo Kobayashi's history of the Draisienne and the Michaux vélocipede, which claims Moore's race was the third that day and not even the most important. The races on 31 May 1868, when Moore was 19, took place in the Saint-Cloud park in Paris. The races were to the park's fountain and back – 1,200 metres on a gravel path. The French historian Pierre Chany wrote: In Paris, 'pedalling machines' proliferated, characterised by wheels of 1m or 1m 10 in front and 80cm at the back. Their riders gave exhibitions in which they rivalled each other in technique and vigour. Seeing these demonstrations, the Ollivier brothers, who controlled the Compagnie Parisienne, decided to hold a race on 31 May 1868 in the Parc de St-Cloud, made available to them by their Imperial Majesties Cycling Record reported that the event started on the stroke of 3pm in the presence of the aristocracy of Tout-Paris, all thrilled at the idea of seeing these men rival each other in strength and virtuosity. Although Moore's race has been widely considered the first, the Dutch historian Benjie Maso says it was the second and that the first was won by a rider called Polocini. (See below for more on the "first race" mystery). The favourite for the second event was François Drouet who was the early leader. At half way James Moore took the lead, breaking clear "at the speed of lightning", according to Cycling Record, and won in 3 minutes and 50 seconds to the "frenetic hurrahs" of the crowd.