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“In business for himself, in addition to developing the people skills one cannot learn in a book, his mastery of the art of selling on trains also made him a great deal of money. So much so, in fact he was able to afford one of the greatest luxuries of the day – a HiWheel bicycle.

Soon, in 1890, he joined the Zig Zag Bike Club that Arthur Newby had formed to ride the often muddy roads around Indianapolis as far as 40 and 50 miles away. Since only the well heeled could afford Penny Farthings, Fisher soon found himself rubbing elbows with some of the most powerful men of the day. In a club that only lasted six years and grew to 200 members even though it was restricted to HiWheel bikes, he formed many important and lasting relationships. In the bike club, he became friends with James Allison, Arthur Newby, the Marmon Bros, all noted above, as well as WWI Major General Robert Tyndall, who years later went on to become, in 1943, the Mayor of Indianapolis.

At the tender ago of 17, in 1891, he bought himself a bike shop on Pennsylvania Street in a city of 105,000 people that was growing by leaps and bounds. At the time, Indianapolis was the beneficiary of the discovery of oil  that was taking the northeastern part of the state by storm.

Because Indianapolis was where a lot of the money that was being made ended up being spent,  Fisher’s store was in the middle of a lot of excitement.  He was positioned perfectly in many ways. He was, for example, only one block from the colossal  284-foot tall Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a spectacular tourist draw that had been finished only three years earlier in 1888.

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Always looking for ways to promote, he and his brothers built a 9-foot tall HiWheel bicycle. Carl even rode around the city on what was once billed as “the largest bike in the world”, a 20-foot tall pedal machine that the three Fishers had constructed. If that was not enough, Carl even strung a tight rope across Washington St, where the Cultural Trail is now, donned a padded suit and rode a bicycle across it. His safety net for this trick were the ropes strapped to his handlebars that two men held from the building he rode to.

He even took out ads in the newspapers for a stunt the local police tried to shut down. He told the local citizenry that he would throw a bike off of one of the tall downtown buildings and who ever found it, would get a new one at his shop. The way the story is told, despite the fact that ten police officers had been strategically positioned to prevent this from happening, at the planned time, a bike came crashing down to the street. Cheers rang out as crowds scrambled to claim it.

Crazy Carl, as he had come to be known locally, turned himself in, but he was not charged with a crime as his was a love/hate relationship with the local constables of the peace. His antics reinforced his status as a local celebrity and folk hero. Soon, it became cool to say you bought a bicycle from Carl Fisher and his fame grew and grew.

By mid 1890’s, Indianapolis was filled with bikes. And Fisher, whose shop was mostly responsible for this, was at age 20, a self supporting and well respected businessman.”

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The picture above was taken on the north steps of the Indiana state capitol that is located on America’s first and only Downtown Greenway,  the Indianapolis Cultural Trail: A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick. Almost all of these bikes i it were sold by Carl Fisher whose shop was around the corner from this and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. My book will show you not only how he built Indianapolis, but how he built the Nation with the Lincoln Hwy.