| William Peden | |
| Birth Date: | 16 April 1906 |
| Birth Place: | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Death Place: | Northbrook, Illinois, United States |
| Height: | 6feet |
| Weight: | 220lb |
| Discipline: | Six-day racing |
| Proyears1: | 1929-1948 |
William "Torchy" Peden (16 April 1906 - 26 January 1980) was a Canadian cyclist. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1955[1] and the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1966.[2]
As a youth, Peden was a natural athlete, participating in several sports, and was nationally ranked in swimming.[3] He took up bicycle racing in 1925 and trained intensively for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[1] He was selected for the Canadian team and competed in three Olympic events.[4] Afterward, he remained in Europe to join the cycling circuit. In 1929, he returned to Canada.[1] After winning five titles at the indoor Canadian championships in Montreal, he turned professional.[1]
He discovered and excelled at six-day racing. During the Great Depression, the sport was cheap for spectators and very popular. Beginning in 1929, he won 24 of 48 races over the next four years.[1] [4] In 1932, he set a record that still stands: 10 victories.[3] At times, he teamed up with his younger brother Doug (the sport used two-man teams). Overall, he won 38 of 148, a record unbroken until 1965.[3] In 1931, he set a record; riding behind a car providing a shield against the wind, he achieved a speed of 73.5mph.[1] He also coached the 1932 national cycling team and the 1936 track team.[1]
He was a showman, popular with the fans. He would grab a scarf or hat from a spectator and ride around with it for a few laps before returning it to its owner. The redhead acquired the nickname "Torchy" when a journalist described him as a "flame-haired youth leading the pack like a torch".[2] He was rumoured to have earned $50,000 a year, an enormous sum at the time.[1] (For comparison, Babe Ruth made $80,000 in 1930.)
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force.[1] He participated in his last six-day race in 1942 and his last professional cycling race in 1948.[1]
He moved to the United States in the 1950s and opened a sporting goods store.[1]