Fast Diggers: Howard Freeman

Howard Benton Freeman was born in Portland, Oregon in 1877, but spent most of his younger years in Hayward, California. Like many racers not from Los Angeles, Freeman never-the-less, took up residence in the city coinciding with the racing season at the local velodrome which, in this case, was the city's first indoor velodrome. Freeman raced in Los Angeles for two seasons, January to March 1900 and the same months during 1901. In mid-1900 US census records show that Freeman was sharing space at a Newark, New Jersey boarding house - such was the life of an itinerant bicycle racer, following the circuit from city to city in search of the game - and a living. Nicknamed "Poke," Freeman was also noted as an exceptional illustrator from an early date. A story in Brooklyn, New York's Daily Standard Union of September 1901 wrote of Freeman:

"Known as the 'Artist Cyclist,' because of his ability as a sketcher for the daily and weekly papers, Howard B. Freeman, Ore., is a typical representative of the quiet, gentlemanly American bicycle racer. His winnings, and they amount to a goodly sum in the course of a summer pay for his tuition during the winter at the art school. Possessing an extraordinary finishing sprint, Freeman has come to the front very rapidly since '95, when he made his first appearance as an amateur in California."

When finished with the racing game, a friend took note of his drawings and suggested he take up cartooning as a career. The same friend provided an introduction to Homer Davenport, who was the political cartoonist at the New York Journal. In one of those coincidental quirks of life, Freeman seated in a New York restaurant "idly drawing sketches on a menu when a man sitting near him took notice." The man commented that the sketches were "pretty good stuff," and suggested he might be able to help. As it turned out, that man was Homer Davenport; Freeman showed him the letter of introduction, and a new career took off. 

Howard "Poke" Freeman is one of the many bicycle racers you can read about in volume 2 of Fast Digs: Bicycle Racing Venues of Greater Los Angeles, 1900-1929, expected to be published in early 2023. Fast Digs: Bicycle Racing Venues of Greater Los Angeles, the Early Years, 1880-1899 is available for purchase here.