Arthur Augustus Zimmerman
Encyclopedia
Arthur Augustus Zimmerman (June 11, 1869 – October 22, 1936) was one of the world's greatest cycling
sprint
riders and winner of the first world championship in 1893. His prizes as an amateur were a consideration in the establishment of the International Cycling Association
(ICA).
, Illinois
. In that same year, he won 101 of the 110 races he disputed.
He turned professional in 1894 and won the sprint championship of France
. His performances include a 100m flying start in 5.4 seconds, an average of 66.6 km/h. Claims that he could ride the last 200m of a sprint match in 12 seconds are less established. Bill Mills, who investigated the claims for the British weekly, The Bicycle, wrote:
, the son of a real estate broker known as T.A., and grew up in Freehold. There he excelled at county level in high jump, long jump and triple jump, competing for the military school he attended.
"I liked it so well that I jumped in the game with all the spirit that was in me," he said.
He began cycle-racing at 17 on a penny-farthing
, a traditional bicycle
on which he sat above a 55-inch wheel, a smaller wheel following. He abandoned that in 1891 for a Star bicycle, which had the larger wheel at the back and was propelled by pedals to be pushed up and down. A further novelty was that both pedals could be brought to the top of the pedaling stroke at the same time, which the makers claimed gave better acceleration. He won the League of American Wheelmen national half-mile championship, setting a world record of 29.5 seconds for the last 440 yards.
His speed and pedaling speed earned him the nickname The Jersey Skeeter. On a bike weighing 12 kg, on soft tires 38mm across, without toe-straps and on a gear of 17 x 7 (in today's half-inch pitch, the gear would be 34 x 14) he rode the last 200m of a race in Paris
in 12 seconds. The cycling mathematician, Dave Lefèvre, says that according to whether that was exactly 12 seconds or closer to 13, and depending on the precise size of the wheel (which could have been larger then), Zimmerman may have pedaled at 170 to 185 revolutions a minute. The cycling journalist Pierre Chany
says that at the least he would have ridden at 160rpm.
The historian Peter Nye says:
Zimmerman told the The Newark Evening News
in 1912 what it had been like, racing as an amateur from 1887 to 1893:
were the world's most prestigious and were considered the unofficial championships of the world. The NCU, which had a particularly strict definition of an amateur
, proposed to create an International Cycling Association
, open to national organizations whose views of amateurism were similar to its own, and to organize world championships.
Both proposals had a direct effect on Zimmerman's career.
The first world championships were allocated to the United States
, which organized them in Chicago to profit from crowds drawn to the World's Columbian Exposition
being held there. Zimmerman dominated them, although the distance from the center of world cycling in Europe limited the number of riders and Americans won two of the three gold medals.
The winners received a gold medal and all participants a silver medal. The table shows what would have happened had gold, bronze and silver medals been awarded to the first three as is current practise.
, although an amateur, profited from the crowds and therefore the ticket sales he could bring to cycling tracks, or velodrome
s. Crowds of 23,000 attended some races and Hendee could devote his life to cycling.
Zimmerman went further. In just one race, the Springfield College Diamond Jubilee mile in 1892, Zimmerman won two horses, a harness and a buckboard, total value $1,000 or more than twice the national annual wage. The New York Times
listed his winnings in 1892 as including 29 bicycles, several horses and carriages, half a dozen pianos, a house, land, furniture and "enough silver plates, medals and jewellery to stock a jewellery store." In 1893, he won 15 bicycles, 15 jewellery rings, 15 diamonds, 14 medals, two cups, seven studs, eight watches, a tract of land, six clocks, four scarf pins, nine pieces of silverware, two bronzes, two wagons and a piano. According to the French historian, Pierre Chany, he even won coffins.
He became one of the first riders to cash in on his fame, lending his name to Zimmy shoes, Zimmy toe-clips and Zimmy clothes.
In 1892, the British NCU invited him to ride in London
, where he rode in the jersey of the New York Athletic Club, its badge of a winged foot on the chest. He disliked the weather but got on well with his British rivals. That summer he took the national mile, five-mile, 25-mile and 50-mile championships, all on the track. He was greeted as a hero on returning to the USA but he left behind him the bruised principles of the amateur NCU.
The British had been in no position to query Zimmerman's status because the League of American Wheelmen had recognized him as amateur. But things changed when Zimmerman returned to London in 1893. Now he had two bicycles from Raleigh
and Raleigh's advertising showed him riding its bicycles. The NCU assumed that Zimmerman had been paid, which offended the agreement it had made with the International Cycling Association that an amateur is "One who has never engaged in, nor assisted in, nor taught any athletic exercise for money, nor knowingly competed with or against a professional for a prize of any description... Or who is recognised as an amateur by the ruling body of his country."
The NCU banned Zimmerman from Britain. But a weakness in the ICA appeared when the League of American Wheelmen and the associations of other countries took no notice: there was no insistence in the rules that all member countries had to recognize the decisions of others. Zimmerman went to race in Ireland
and France
instead. And next year he turned professional.
(1850–1915), hired Walter Sanger and two other riders to ride Spalding bicycles and to compete in Spalding shirts.
Zimmerman saw his chance and negotiated with a theater agent in Paris to ride in 25 meetings, most of them in the city. Zimmerman demanded to be paid in gold and made his sponsorship contract with Raleigh properly open.
His arrival in the French capital was preceded by extensive newspaper coverage – and greeted with disillusion. One paper wrote:
The French were not alone. A British report said:
First impressions – "he looks as though he eats nothing but string", the French reporter said of his lean appearance – were soon dispelled. Zimmerman's first match was the meeting that preceded the finish of Bordeaux–Paris on the Buffalo track. The race, the Grand Prix de Bordeaux
matched him against a Scotsman called Vogt, known for his speed over 440 yards, André, who was a track favorite, and a former French champion called Hermet who, in the custom of the day, had also competed under a pseudonym, Dervil. (Riders frequently competed under names of their own fancy in early races. The first long-distance race, from Paris to Rouen in 1869, included a Peter the First, Johnson of Brussels, several identified only by initials or a first name, and a British woman who called herself Miss America.)
Zimmerman won the first of three rounds so easily that officials asked him to make the next heats closer, to please the public. In English, they said: "Arthur, show us the range of your talents and, if you can, show us something new." The writer Owen Mulholland said:
His fame led to acclaim throughout the world. In Victoria
, Australia
, the governor's wife invited him to demonstrate cycling in the ballroom of the state palace. In Sydney
, he drew a crowd of 27,000. In Adelaide
he was greeted by thousands and he was toasted in champagne by the mayor and given a civic lunch.
But the end was coming. Zimmerman was never the same after Australia. Peter Nye says:
Zimmerman rode without great success in Europe in 1896 but his charisma and following was such that, even no longer his former self, he was invited back to France for exhibition races until 1904. In 1902, he made a solo appearance at a meeting in Asbury Park, riding a mile behind motor-pace in 1:49 to please local organizers.
on the coast near Asbury Park
. He ran a hotel and former colleagues such as Alf Goullet
called in to remember old times. Zimmerman still received invitations to race but turned them down, saying when he was 48, that he had rheumatism.
He died in Atlanta, Georgia
, on October 22, 1936, aged 67. He had had a heart attack. Posters advertising his appearances are still auctioned. In 2003, a battered black-and-white Raleigh poster proclaiming his status as world champion – 'over 2,300 prizes during 1892' – sold for $800.
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
sprint
Sprint (cycling)
The sprint or match sprint is a track cycling event involving between 2 and 4 riders, though they are usually run as a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.- Racing style :...
riders and winner of the first world championship in 1893. His prizes as an amateur were a consideration in the establishment of the International Cycling Association
International Cycling Association
The International Cycling Association was the first international body for cycle racing. It started in 1892 to establish a common definition of amateurism and to organise world championships...
(ICA).
Career summary
Zimmerman won more than 1,000 races thanks to exceptional acceleration and the ability to pedal unusually fast. He was American national champion in 1890, 1891 and 1892. In 1892 he won the British one-mile and five-mile championships. In 1893 he won the ICA world sprint and 10 km championships in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. In that same year, he won 101 of the 110 races he disputed.
He turned professional in 1894 and won the sprint championship of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His performances include a 100m flying start in 5.4 seconds, an average of 66.6 km/h. Claims that he could ride the last 200m of a sprint match in 12 seconds are less established. Bill Mills, who investigated the claims for the British weekly, The Bicycle, wrote:
- It seemed to be a commonly held opinion that he invariably covered the last 220 [yards] in 12 seconds flat, despite the fact that he rode a gear of 68 inches with 6½-inch cranks... and no toestraps! Now this, if true, would be a phenomenal performance, seeing that our moderns, with gears in the high eighties or low nineties, on modern machines and tires, only rarely get below 13 sec. There is, unfortunately, no direct evidence of Zimmerman's performances over the 220 yards, for the very simple reason that in those days it was not customary to mark off the 220 yards mark nor to take times from it.
Beginnings
Zimmerman, known as Zimmy or Zim, was a lean, athletic-looking man who stood 5 ft 11 in. He was born in Camden, New JerseyCamden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
, the son of a real estate broker known as T.A., and grew up in Freehold. There he excelled at county level in high jump, long jump and triple jump, competing for the military school he attended.
"I liked it so well that I jumped in the game with all the spirit that was in me," he said.
He began cycle-racing at 17 on a penny-farthing
Penny-farthing
Penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s...
, a traditional bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
on which he sat above a 55-inch wheel, a smaller wheel following. He abandoned that in 1891 for a Star bicycle, which had the larger wheel at the back and was propelled by pedals to be pushed up and down. A further novelty was that both pedals could be brought to the top of the pedaling stroke at the same time, which the makers claimed gave better acceleration. He won the League of American Wheelmen national half-mile championship, setting a world record of 29.5 seconds for the last 440 yards.
His speed and pedaling speed earned him the nickname The Jersey Skeeter. On a bike weighing 12 kg, on soft tires 38mm across, without toe-straps and on a gear of 17 x 7 (in today's half-inch pitch, the gear would be 34 x 14) he rode the last 200m of a race in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 12 seconds. The cycling mathematician, Dave Lefèvre, says that according to whether that was exactly 12 seconds or closer to 13, and depending on the precise size of the wheel (which could have been larger then), Zimmerman may have pedaled at 170 to 185 revolutions a minute. The cycling journalist Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany
Pierre Chany was a French cycling journalist. He covered the Tour de France 49 times and was for a long time the main cycling writer for the daily newspaper, L'Équipe.- Biography :...
says that at the least he would have ridden at 160rpm.
The historian Peter Nye says:
- "He was reputed to win 47 races in one week, which probably included heats, from the quarter-mile to 25 miles, and finished some seasons with 100 or more victories – feats comparable to the 267 strikeouts [in baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
], or the four seasons with 30 or more victories by his contemporary, Christy MathewsonChristy MathewsonChristopher "Christy" Mathewson , nicknamed "Big Six", "The Christian Gentleman", or "Matty", was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire career in what is known as the dead-ball era...
."
Zimmerman told the The Newark Evening News
Newark Evening News
The Newark Evening News was an American newspaper published in Newark, New Jersey. As New Jersey's largest city, Newark played a major role in New Jersey's journalistic history. At its apex, The News was widely regarded as the newspaper of record in New Jersey. It had bureaus in Montclair,...
in 1912 what it had been like, racing as an amateur from 1887 to 1893:
- "The racing in those days extended over a greater part of the country. Nearly every state and county fair had bicycle racing as an attraction. [We] rode principally on dirt tracks – trotting tracks – and we made a regular circuit, going from one town to another and riding practically every day. It was often the case that the riders, after spending several hours on a train, would be obliged to go immediately to the track where they were billed to appear and, without any warming up, go out and ride. This happened day after day."
World championship
Cycling had become a widespread sport in the 19th century but there were no world championships. The championships of the National Cycling Union (NCU) in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
were the world's most prestigious and were considered the unofficial championships of the world. The NCU, which had a particularly strict definition of an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
, proposed to create an International Cycling Association
International Cycling Association
The International Cycling Association was the first international body for cycle racing. It started in 1892 to establish a common definition of amateurism and to organise world championships...
, open to national organizations whose views of amateurism were similar to its own, and to organize world championships.
Both proposals had a direct effect on Zimmerman's career.
The first world championships were allocated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which organized them in Chicago to profit from crowds drawn to the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
being held there. Zimmerman dominated them, although the distance from the center of world cycling in Europe limited the number of riders and Americans won two of the three gold medals.
The winners received a gold medal and all participants a silver medal. The table shows what would have happened had gold, bronze and silver medals been awarded to the first three as is current practise.
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
| 2 |  South African Republic |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 |  Germany |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |
| Sprint |
Arthur Zimmerman |
John S. Johnson John S. Johnson John S. Johnson was an early American cyclist and speed skater. He was the first to bicycle 1-mile in less than two minutes, or 1:56.6. This happened in 1892 at a racing track in Independence, Iowa. Johnson was also a world record holder in speed skating, and won world championship titles in both... |
John Patrick Bliss |
| Stayers |
Lawrence Meintjes Lawrence Meintjes Laurens Schmitz Meintjes was a South African track cyclist and winner of the inaugural stayers contest at the 1893 ICA Track Cycling World Championships in Chicago. Meintjes was born in Aberdeen and died in Potgietersrust.... South African Republic |
Charles Albrecht Germany |
B. Ulbricht |
| 10 km Sprint |
Arthur Zimmerman |
John Patrick Bliss |
John S. Johnson John S. Johnson John S. Johnson was an early American cyclist and speed skater. He was the first to bicycle 1-mile in less than two minutes, or 1:56.6. This happened in 1892 at a racing track in Independence, Iowa. Johnson was also a world record holder in speed skating, and won world championship titles in both... |
The amateurism question
The American champion George M. Hendee, from Springfield, MassachusettsSpringfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, although an amateur, profited from the crowds and therefore the ticket sales he could bring to cycling tracks, or velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
s. Crowds of 23,000 attended some races and Hendee could devote his life to cycling.
Zimmerman went further. In just one race, the Springfield College Diamond Jubilee mile in 1892, Zimmerman won two horses, a harness and a buckboard, total value $1,000 or more than twice the national annual wage. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
listed his winnings in 1892 as including 29 bicycles, several horses and carriages, half a dozen pianos, a house, land, furniture and "enough silver plates, medals and jewellery to stock a jewellery store." In 1893, he won 15 bicycles, 15 jewellery rings, 15 diamonds, 14 medals, two cups, seven studs, eight watches, a tract of land, six clocks, four scarf pins, nine pieces of silverware, two bronzes, two wagons and a piano. According to the French historian, Pierre Chany, he even won coffins.
He became one of the first riders to cash in on his fame, lending his name to Zimmy shoes, Zimmy toe-clips and Zimmy clothes.
In 1892, the British NCU invited him to ride in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he rode in the jersey of the New York Athletic Club, its badge of a winged foot on the chest. He disliked the weather but got on well with his British rivals. That summer he took the national mile, five-mile, 25-mile and 50-mile championships, all on the track. He was greeted as a hero on returning to the USA but he left behind him the bruised principles of the amateur NCU.
The British had been in no position to query Zimmerman's status because the League of American Wheelmen had recognized him as amateur. But things changed when Zimmerman returned to London in 1893. Now he had two bicycles from Raleigh
Raleigh Bicycle Company
The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a bicycle manufacturer originally based in Nottingham, UK. It is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. From 1921 to 1935 Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of the Reliant Company.-Early years:Raleigh's history...
and Raleigh's advertising showed him riding its bicycles. The NCU assumed that Zimmerman had been paid, which offended the agreement it had made with the International Cycling Association that an amateur is "One who has never engaged in, nor assisted in, nor taught any athletic exercise for money, nor knowingly competed with or against a professional for a prize of any description... Or who is recognised as an amateur by the ruling body of his country."
The NCU banned Zimmerman from Britain. But a weakness in the ICA appeared when the League of American Wheelmen and the associations of other countries took no notice: there was no insistence in the rules that all member countries had to recognize the decisions of others. Zimmerman went to race in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
instead. And next year he turned professional.
Professional career
There had been, despite or because of the prizes and probable appearance money for amateurs, no real professional track racing in the United States outside six-day races. There were still no professional world championships. The position in the USA changed when a sports goods manufacturer and baseball enthusiast, Albert SpaldingAlbert Spalding
Albert Goodwill Spalding was a professional baseball player, manager and co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company.-Biography:...
(1850–1915), hired Walter Sanger and two other riders to ride Spalding bicycles and to compete in Spalding shirts.
Zimmerman saw his chance and negotiated with a theater agent in Paris to ride in 25 meetings, most of them in the city. Zimmerman demanded to be paid in gold and made his sponsorship contract with Raleigh properly open.
His arrival in the French capital was preceded by extensive newspaper coverage – and greeted with disillusion. One paper wrote:
- "To tell the truth, our American in his city clothes barely gives any impression of being the superman that we were expecting. He is tall (1m80), not especially elegant in his little hat, phlegmatic and nonchalant, never making one step faster than another. Can this really be this superior man, the athlete who beats everyone? I can tell you that, so far as I'm concerned, my illusions vanished the moment I saw him."
The French were not alone. A British report said:
- "He puts out his hand much in the same fashion as a 'young person' who is dying of ennui. It is a sort of here-you-are-do-what-you-will-with-it-but-oh-let-it-be-soon kind of handshake... He has been compared to a farmer's boy by virtue of a knack he possesses of ambling along rather than walking erect, as becomes a militiaman crossing the barrackyard."
First impressions – "he looks as though he eats nothing but string", the French reporter said of his lean appearance – were soon dispelled. Zimmerman's first match was the meeting that preceded the finish of Bordeaux–Paris on the Buffalo track. The race, the Grand Prix de Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
matched him against a Scotsman called Vogt, known for his speed over 440 yards, André, who was a track favorite, and a former French champion called Hermet who, in the custom of the day, had also competed under a pseudonym, Dervil. (Riders frequently competed under names of their own fancy in early races. The first long-distance race, from Paris to Rouen in 1869, included a Peter the First, Johnson of Brussels, several identified only by initials or a first name, and a British woman who called herself Miss America.)
Zimmerman won the first of three rounds so easily that officials asked him to make the next heats closer, to please the public. In English, they said: "Arthur, show us the range of your talents and, if you can, show us something new." The writer Owen Mulholland said:
- "Officials approached him with a request to try something different to make it look better. He replied with a calm 'After the bell'... He occupied himself contentedly in last position for the first three of four laps. The lead man, Vogt, obviously meant to sacrifice himself for the others by setting a furious pace. The bell sounded, announcing the last lap, and still Zimmerman was apparently happy to follow in last position and seemed intent on staying there. But then, in the final turn, he emerged from the rear position like a rocket, passed the other three at a stupefying pace which gave them no chance to come back at him, and sailed on across the line 20 meters clear of the second man."
His fame led to acclaim throughout the world. In Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the governor's wife invited him to demonstrate cycling in the ballroom of the state palace. In Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, he drew a crowd of 27,000. In Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
he was greeted by thousands and he was toasted in champagne by the mayor and given a civic lunch.
But the end was coming. Zimmerman was never the same after Australia. Peter Nye says:
- "Zimmerman's Australian tour had its highlights, but the strain of constant racing and travel was catching up with him. He promptly followed that tour by returning to Europe, where he couldn't live up to his reputation. Breyer speculated that Zimmerman didn't even try seriously. It was Zimmerman's ninth season and he may have been burned out."
Zimmerman rode without great success in Europe in 1896 but his charisma and following was such that, even no longer his former self, he was invited back to France for exhibition races until 1904. In 1902, he made a solo appearance at a meeting in Asbury Park, riding a mile behind motor-pace in 1:49 to please local organizers.
Retirement and death
Zimmerman stopped racing in 1905 and retired to Point Pleasant, New JerseyPoint Pleasant, New Jersey
Point Pleasant is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 18,392...
on the coast near Asbury Park
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
. He ran a hotel and former colleagues such as Alf Goullet
Alf Goullet
Alf Goullet was an Australian cyclist who won more than 400 races on three continents, including 15 six-day races...
called in to remember old times. Zimmerman still received invitations to race but turned them down, saying when he was 48, that he had rheumatism.
He died in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, on October 22, 1936, aged 67. He had had a heart attack. Posters advertising his appearances are still auctioned. In 2003, a battered black-and-white Raleigh poster proclaiming his status as world champion – 'over 2,300 prizes during 1892' – sold for $800.