Glenn was born on May 21, 1878, in Hammondsport, New York. He was a champion cyclist in 1900, and in 1901 he added a motor to the bicycle and became a champion motoecyclist. By 1902 he was being asked to design motorcycles and engines for other racers. Baldwin and Curtiss visited the Wright bicycle repair shop. By this time, the Wrights had become secretive as they awaited the protection of a patient. They would not show visitors their airplane. What the Wrights didn't relize was that Curtiss had already delivered an engine to Alex Bell and that plans were being made to marry Curtiss' engine-building abilites with the other's aeronautic talents to create airplanes.