FRANK R. STOCKTON
will appear during the year.
SHORT STORIES
will continue to be the most popular feature of the Magazine.
Besides contributions from authors already famous, others
will be especially sought from NEW WRITERS.
STRIKING AMERICAN FEATURES
WILL BE CONTRIBUTED BY
CHARLES F. LUMMIS, WOODROW WILSON, OWEN WISTER,
FREDERIC REMINGTON, AND WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS.
35 CENTS A COPY. $4.00 A YEAR.
HARPER & BROTHERS, Publishers, New York
This Department is conducted in the interest of Bicyclers, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject. Our maps and tours contain many valuable data kindly supplied from the official maps and road-books of the League of American Wheelmen. Recognizing the value of the work being done by the L.A.W., the Editor will be pleased to furnish subscribers with membership blanks and information so far as possible.
There are many questions connected with what to the average rider would be long journeys on a bicycle which seldom or never obtain the amount of attention which they require in order to give the rider the comfort and pleasure that he ought to have.
For instance, the packing of luggage is one of the most important details of a week's run. The best method for carrying luggage is that already described in this column, namely, a leather bag fitted to the inside of the frame. The proper luggage for a week should be the smallest set of toilet articles that can be conveniently used, a couple of sets of under-clothing, and at least two extra pairs of long stockings, and, perhaps most important of all, a pair of loose slippers. When starting out in the morning the entire clothing which you wear should be perfectly dry. This can always be accomplished if it is done in the right way, by asking a maid at the hotel where you stop at night to see that all your clothes are dried during the night, and it is well to dress in a different suit each day, except, of course, the trousers and jacket. When you stop at noon for the hour or two for dinner, with the intention of riding on in the afternoon, the greatest care should be taken to avoid taking cold, especially in the fall and winter weather. In the first place, you should wrap yourself up usually by putting on the coat and waistcoat which you have been carrying on the front of the wheel or in the leather portmanteau. It is unwise, however, to take a bath and change the clothing at this time of day, and therefore merely the rest and the dinner should be your care at noon. After riding all the afternoon, the moment the bicycle is stowed away or put under some one's care, go to your room at the hotel and take a bath. If there happens to be no bath-tub available, which is often the case at small inns or country hotels, take a sponge bath—always in warm water at first, ending with cold. There is considerable danger to any one who takes a warm bath after heavy physical exertion and omits the cold water afterward. It is one of the best methods known for catching a dangerous cold.
The food which you eat on these journeys is quite as important as any other of the details of the ride. It is always well, if that be possible, to sit still reading the paper, or smoking, or resting in any way, for from three-quarters of an hour to an hour after each meal. For breakfast, oatmeal, coffee, and perhaps a couple of eggs with toast is quite as much as it is well for you to take, unless you have been in the habit of eating a very heavy breakfast. If the journey is to be continued in the afternoon, it is well not to eat too heavily at dinner, and you are advised to stick to water for drink. Then after the afternoon ride, after a good bath, and with a change of clothing and the slippers on, at anywhere from six to eight o'clock, you may eat as much and take as much time at table as you care to. If this rule is followed, you will wake up the next morning fresh and ready for the day's run.
[THE BABY SPEAKS.]
I've got a joke on pa and ma—
They say 'at I can't walk.
It really makes me laugh right out
To hear those people talk.
Why, I can walk as well as you,
So grand in all your pride,
But for the present "Baby" thinks
He'd much prefer to ride.