Back in 2008, the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame (USBHOF) began to search for a new home.

The USBHOF was founded 22 years prior in Somerville, New Jersey, the location of the oldest bicycle race in the United States, the Tour of Somerville. The rest, as they say, is history, which can be found in a vast collection at 303 3rd St. in Davis.

“In the early 2000s, they realized that something more permanent was needed, so they put out the call,” said USBHOF president Bob Bowen. “Dozens of cities across the country said, ‘Hey, we’d like to have the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame.’ Davis, with the support of the city and bike advocates, applied. We staged their induction ceremony in Davis in 2008. In 2009, they decided to award the Hall of Fame to the city of Davis, and in 2010, we opened the museum.”

The USBHOF provides visitors, young and old, with an educational experience that is difficult to replicate in today’s day and age.

“The museum is unique even for the city of Davis as a bike-friendly community,” Bowen proclaimed. “The museum displays how bicycling first started and continues through the technology of today. There is a lot of history about different aspects of cycling that can be appreciated by people who aren’t, you know, world class cyclists.”

Bowen mentioned notable names featured at the museum include Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. There are currently 178 honorees in the Hall of Fame.

We have a jersey and bike from (LeMond). He’s an inductee and the only American to have officially won the Tour de France as he won it three times,” Bowen said. “We do acknowledge that other guy, Lance Armstrong, who will never be in the Hall of Fame. His seven Tour de France victories were taken away for performance-enhancing drugs.”

The USBHOF has a section dedicated to the history of women in cycling and how the sport democratized society.

“There are lots of stories about bicycling in American history, like how bicycling has affected the social structure of our country,” Bowen said. “There were times where women were actively discouraged from riding and they created things called sociables’ which have side-by-side seats or tandems, one seat in front of the other. Women were discouraged from going out and riding by themselves.

“Women were saying, ‘Well, I don’t want to wait. I am going to wear these bloomers (which was very scandalous at the time) and go out and ride a bike!’ That actually helped democratize society, gave them a chance and transitioned into women’s right to vote.”

According to Bowen, Davis had the first official bicycle lane in America back in 1967.

“In terms of taking a street for vehicles and saying this part of the street is for bike lanes, Davis found out it wasn’t legal to do that,” Bowen recalled. “They had to pass legislation signed by Ronald Reagan to be able to just paint some lines on a street so that part could be dedicated to bicycling. With the university growing in the early ‘60s and bikes everywhere, they created a network of bike lanes and paths where a 12 square-mile community now has over 100 miles of dedicated bike lanes and paths.”

Admission costs for the USBHOF is $5 for the general public, $3 for seniors over 55-years-old and $3 for students. Group tours are available by appointment. The museum is open Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The USBHOF can be reached via email at info@usbhof.org or by visiting www.usbhof.org