“WHERE SHALL WE RIDE?”
But one thing is likely to interfere with the bicycle campaign in our large cities and towns; and that is the difficulty of finding suitable places to ride in. Our latest hobby is already ridden with remarkable fury in the streets, and will continue to be so, by those who make the machine a means of utility. Foot passengers, however, claim the sidewalks as their exclusive rights; and will hardly be pleased to feel in perpetual terror of—
Bicycles right of them,
Bicycles left of them,
Bicycles front of them,
Rolling and tumbling;
and those who ride for amusement, are anxiously looking for suitable places, where they can do so without annoyance to passers, or being interfered with by them; where they can see and be seen; and where their skill can be admired.
But velocipede tracks are now in preparation. Race-courses will be free to the bicycle, velocipede stables will open in their vicinity, and the proprietors will rapidly line their pockets. All the skating ponds will be metamorphosed into velocipedariums and velocipede rinks. These will make capital exercise grounds, where numberless riders can make their graceful curves to the music of a good band; and where, in hot summer weather, they can be protected from the sun by awnings. The large parks will be open to velocipedestrians.
It has been currently reported that the Commissioners of Central Park, New York, have prohibited the driving of the bicycle there; but the rumor is without foundation. No such interdict will be issued, unless the blooded horses object to the novel machine, by running away. Well-bred horses, whether thorough-bred or not, already manifest no emotion at the sight of the vehicle. Without doubt, the Commissioners will yield gracefully to the public demand.
In New York, a project has been advocated of building an elevated railway, from Harlem to the Battery, to be used only by velocipede riders. On such a railway, thirty feet wide, and with a flooring of hard pine, it would be possible to go from one end of Manhattan Island to the other in about an hour, making allowance for delays, from stoppages and accidents. A good rider, with a clear track, could easily accomplish the distance in half an hour; but, with a well-filled road, progress would necessarily be slower.
In Prospect and Washington Parks, Brooklyn, the bicycle votaries are allowed the same privileges as equestrians. Many of the level streets of that city, with the Nicholson and concrete pavements, furnish a capital surface for the velocipedestrians, and are great resorts. It is even said, that the benign City Fathers propose to bridge the gutters for their accommodation.
The residents of Boston will find good riding grounds, easy of access to the city, on many of the smooth roads of its beautiful suburbs.
Philadelphians can ride the velocipede on their straight, level streets. We know of no place so admirably adapted to the bicycle, as Broad Street, Philadelphia, with its miles of Nicholson pavement.