What began as a simple means of transportation for cyclist Lew Rush became, by 1929, a passion and he began entering amateur and professional bicycle road race competitions. Over the course of his career, he won many local and North American trophies, such as the Penwell Trophy, the Moody Trophy, the Colonist Cup, one for a 25-mile Pacific Coast Championship and another for race from Seattle to Vancouver which he completed in about seven hours. In May of 1932 at the Olympic trials, he outperformed the Olympic record from a standing start and beat the winning time at the 1928 Summer Olympics in the kilometre time trial. In order to compete at the upcoming Olympics, however, he had to make the travel arrangements and fund them himself with his team. In addition to his Olympic appearance, he was a frequent participant in the 6-Day Bicycle Races held in North America during the 1930s. The first time he competed in this race, in 1932, he nearly killed himself and partner William “Torchy” Peden in a collision that sent Peden falling 20 feet with his bicycle. He won a 1934 Six Day Race in Los Angeles with partner Eddie Testa but was injured soon after during the filming of a Six Day Race movie. Despite a skull fracture and over 30 stitches to his face, he was back and competing in 1935 and in 1936 won another Six Day race, in Oakland, this time with George Dempsey as a partner. His final Six Day Race came in 1938, a race which he quit due to fatigue and injury, giving him a total of 23 Six Day Race appearances; in addition to his two victories, he came in second in Oakland in 1935 and San Francisco in 1936, as well as third in San Francisco twice in 1935. After ending his career, he worked for a large oil company and later owned his own business, “Mortimer’s Monumental Works”. He traveled to the United States to attend the 1984 Summer Olympics, which once again were held in Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the Canadian 1932 Olympic Cycling Team in 2007.
Canada