Bicycling for Ladies / The Common Sense of Bicycling; with Hints as to the Art of Wheeling—Advice to Beginners—Dress—Care of the Bicycle—Mechanics—Training—Exercise, etc., etc.

by Maria E. Ward

A bicycle should be used only by the person for whom it has been adjusted; for comfort on a bicycle depends on such infinitely small adjustments. Never lend a bicycle or a tool, and never make any change in adjustment by guess. For ordinary use, the saddle should be a little back of the pedals and not too high, and the handles within easy reach. This will allow of the balance and adjustment of weight and balance to suit changing conditions of surface and grade.

Sprinting is often tempting, and comparatively harmless. Scorching is a form of bicycle intoxication, and the taste once acquired, the bicyclist craves its excitement, caring little for the other pleasures of the sport. The scorcher sees little, hears little, and is conscious of little but the exhilaration of the moment, and seems to be imbued with the idea of consuming a certain amount of tissue in a given time. Scorching is a form of bicycling hardly to be commended, and reckless scorching is to be condemned at all times. Sprinting consumes a large quantity of material in a limited time, and though it is well at times to practise speeding, still the getting up of speed involves considerable expenditure of power and greatly increased momentum, and should be indulged in only by those who understand the limit of their powers and know what they hold in reserve.

The wheel of to-day was evolved on the race-track and for the conditions determined thereon; and the amateur bicyclist owes much to the professional wheelman. Improvements in construction, in detail, and in adaptability have reached a certain limit, a limit of possibilities in certain directions. It behooves us now to accept the machine and to adapt ourselves to its requirements and to avail ourselves of all that it offers.

The elasticity of the machine, the resiliency of the tire, rigidity of frame, position, vibration, and concussion should be next considered.

On a bicycle fitted with a rigid saddle and with hard tires, well blown up, the vibration that is conveyed through the entire machine is very perceptible, even on a smooth wheeling surface. Over uneven country, Belgian blocks, or other rough or corrugated surfaces, the vibration produces concussion; and if too erect and rigid a position is maintained, fatigue, if nothing worse, is sure to result.

On a horse the position, while erect, is studied to lessen the concussion; the weight is carried well under to avoid it. The flexible curve of the spine is there, though not perceptible, as the body is held erect and in balance. The lower part of the body becomes part of the saddle, the upper body flexible from above the hips. The concussion comes as each of the horse’s feet is placed on the ground; while concussion on the bicycle is produced by the change caused by each inequality of surface. The pneumatic tire lessens this to a degree, if not blown up too hard; for inequalities sink into the yielding surface that would make a wheel with a hard tire bump.

The frame should be stiff to hold its direction, and the saddle elastic enough to interrupt the vibration of the frame. The position on the saddle should be studied to prevent tension or compression of any of the joints, large or small; and the spine should be easily erect, not stiff and rigid, but flexible.

The sense of balance and the adjustment required to balance the bicycle tends to keep the body flexible. The danger to be avoided is concussion induced by a rigid position—a position where, the bones being held closely against each other by tense muscles, shock is easily conveyed over the entire body.

Let the weight come well on the saddle, in such a position that it can be shifted to the pedals at will; and let the whole trunk be flexible, elastically flexible, equally in all directions. Then the bicycle may be controlled almost unconsciously and from the saddle, the hands being used only in an auxiliary manner. The front wheel may be steered and controlled from the saddle by means of the power over the front wheel gained by the bicycle frame construction.

Bicycling can be thoroughly enjoyed only when the machinery ceases to require constant and concentrated attention. The rhythmical movements of a bicyclist at ease, master of the conditions, comes only with confidence and the persistent practice which causes all the muscles to move easily together in uninterrupted combinations, and the bicycle no longer to require conscious attention.