Bill “Willie” Honeman
Bill "Willie" Honeman
Racing in his stars and stripes jersey, with prototype helmet
Willie Honeman is a heavily featured rider in our museum, and for good reason. He was the junior national champion in 1924, and national champion as a professional in 1934, 1935, and 1936.
Bill broke a lot of ground for other cyclists to follow. He was the first American to wear a stars-and-stripes jersey as the national champion (before Willie they just draped a flag over the riders shoulders at the podium ceremony). Willie also lobbied for head protection for his fellow professional riders (ineffective as the available helmets were at the time), and was the first to regularly wear a helmet outside of motorpaced events.
Willie Honeman's Bay View Wheelmen Jersey
Bill's Brennan, in original condition
Bill's 1929 bike racing license, number 67
Bill achieved an interesting little bit of immortality in bronze. Look closely at some of the awards in the shop, as his likeness is found on the top of all of the ABL and NCA racing trophies.
Willy Honeman was the model for trophy tops like this.
Willie was inducted into the Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1994.
Our museum collection includes Willie’s red 1932 Brennan track bike, his Bay View Wheelmen jersey (Jeff donated Willie’s national champion jersey to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis, California), and a few of his many trophies.