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

In mounting, the weight should be distributed between the handles and the pedal until seated on the saddle. To practise mounting, take the wheel, and start on a very slight down grade. Never attempt to practise mounting against a grade, no matter how slight the inclination. A careful instructor teaches mounting and dismounting thoroughly; but if a poor method has been acquired, practise alone until you have gained confidence and perhaps a few bruises. The only way to succeed is to try and try again. Practise fifteen minutes at a time, for it is fatiguing work; and do not become discouraged. With sufficient practice, the difficulty vanishes.

Never practise mounting when tired; for you should be alert, and all your muscles responsive. But persist; practise first mounting, and then dismounting; and then rest by walking the machine about to learn its balance.

Any one who rides or drives, or rows or sails, knows something of the art of steering,—pulling or pushing on one side or the other to change direction,—and on mounting a bicycle has only to apply knowledge already acquired. In steering a bicycle, look directly over the centre of the handle-bars in the direction you wish to take, and push or pull the wheel until the centre of the bars coincides with your objective point. This is really what is done; but the machine is so delicately sensitive that you change its direction almost without knowing that you are doing so. You go where you look; the hands follow the eye; and the art of steering a bicycle resolves itself into knowing where you want to go, and looking in that direction as you move. In steering or mounting, always have an objective point. Look up the road well ahead, and keep the general direction.

A difficulty early experienced is uncertain steering and an uncertain sense of direction. When you are out for practice, look well ahead towards the end of your road over the handles. Novices run into anything they look at, and must concentrate their attention, therefore, on the direction the bicycle ought to take.

INCORRECT MOUNTING POSITION.

The weight inclined from side to side steers the bicycle; pressure on either pedal steers it as well.

Correct and effective pedaling is a very difficult attainment, to be acquired only with care and practice. First make the bicycle go, then study how you do it, and improve your method. Keep in mind the points that are required for correct pedaling. The early difficulty experienced is to keep the knees and ankles in proper line. Turning the knees in and the heels out will prevent the ankle-bones from striking, a difficulty that many experience.

The reason that mounting is so difficult for some is because the foot is placed incorrectly on the pedal, with the toe pointing out. The foot should be parallel with the frame of the bicycle, and the knee turned in; or else, when the weight is raised, the ankle will strike, and the discomfort of the blow will render the attempt to mount unsuccessful. The position seems awkward until correctly acquired; but the awkwardness is due usually to lack of confidence to come close to the machine and to taking a position too far back of the mounting pedal.

The change of direction on mounting often proves confusing, and the bicycle must be steadied, and made to keep its direction at the same time.