Oscar V. Babcock in the ‘Death Trap Loop and Flume’, Peace Commemorative Exposition, Tokyo, 1922.

Back-caption: “Oscar V. Babcock in the Death Trap Loop and Flume (Senational Thriller), Peace Exposition, Tokyo,” 1922. The first part of his act was to climb a 60-foot tower and ride his nickel-plated bicycle down the ramp and around the loop. The second part of his act was to come down the ramp and jump 40-feet across to a platform. That second part at times was called “flying the flume” or “jump the gap”.

“Oscar V. Babcock (1875-1957) started out as a bicycle racer, once part of the racing Harlem Wheelmen team, who became a professional stunt bicycle rider & biplane pilot. A newspaper reference has him participating in a 6-day bicycle race in New York City in 1898. Babcock started his bicycle loop act in 1904.

“Sometime about 1917 Babcock used the same bicycle/loop set-up and traversed the loop riding an Indian motorcycle. Babcock performed his ‘Death Trap Loop & Flume Act’ act all over the world. In 1921 he traveled to Havana, Cuba. In 1922, Babcock journeyed to Honolulu, Hawaii to open a new amusement park, continuing onward to Japan.”

– Wikipedia