Life — August 30, 1900 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a four-panel sequential comic strip showing two cyclists in competition. The narrative progresses from the cyclists racing neck-and-neck, to one rider's tire visibly bursting (panel 3, shown with a large cloud effect), to the unfortunate competitor being thrown from his bicycle while the other continues riding away victoriously. The humor derives from slapstick physical comedy—the sudden misfortune of the tire failure and the resulting crash. This appears to be a humorous take on competitive cycling, a popular sport in late 19th/early 20th-century Europe (the credit to "Journal Amusant," a French publication, confirms the source). The joke is simply that mechanical failure decides the race rather than athleticism.