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

While increasing the distance travelled the bicycle has greatly decreased the time limit. A person travelling afoot at the rate of three miles an hour (the average walking gait) covers a mile in twenty minutes, and at the end of an hour is not more than three miles from the starting point. On a bicycle a mile is covered usually in four minutes or less. The average distance, owing to the varied resistance met, is not usually so great; and more power may be expended in the hour than is required to walk three miles in the same length of time. Six miles may be the record for an hour on a wheel, and yet the amount of work done be very great. Until the position is adjusted to suit individual requirements, the output of power to accomplish a certain distance, even though it be a short one, is necessarily great. Considerable study is necessary to work out the perfect individual adjustment of the bicycle, weight of clothing, and amount of practice requisite to easy, rhythmical movement; but that once attained, the world lies before you.

Bicycling trains and quickens the perceptions; it cultivates and develops courage, judgment, and discrimination as well as prompt decision and quick and accurate sight. The hand follows the eye without effort; and the machine responds to each impression received without conscious expenditure of power.

To cyclists is due the keen public interest recently aroused in good roadways and in legislation to effect their construction, and the consequent improvement in public highways. For years the amateur cyclists of the country labored to this end in the interest of the sport, the League of American Wheelmen intelligently preparing the minds of the public on the subject.

To be accomplished as a bicyclist means something more than knowing how to wheel a bicycle and to be able to get about on it. It is necessary besides to keep informed of the laws and ordinances relating to bicycles and to vehicles in general; to possess a complete and accurate knowledge of the wheel as a machine; to be able to do for it all that can be done one’s self or to direct another who has not this knowledge; to know the country travelled, know distance and direction; the use of map and compass, and how to travel without them, finding the direction by sun or stars, or even, if need be, without either; to understand the effect of time and season on the face of nature and to cultivate the senses of the woods.

If, while touring with a party, you find that you have missed the way in a strange country and that something about the bicycle has given out, calm decision is requisite. Estimate your resources, and keep quiet. Do not try to find your party; let them find you. Study your wheel-tracks; if off the line of travel, follow them carefully to where they join the tracks of your companions. Then wait until some one comes for you. Rest or be busy about your wheel. Do what you can easily, not to be tired and worn out when your companions find you. It is seldom wise to try and walk after the party; the only object in moving would be to keep warm, for a chill must be avoided.

There is a wonderful difference in the distances covered under different conditions. Winds, adverse or favorable, affect the bicyclist more than anything else. An unfavorable wind is one directly ahead or that can be felt on either cheek while advancing. A favorable wind is one that blows on the back, or cannot be felt on either cheek while looking ahead. A wind blowing directly at right angles with the direction of the wheel is a favorable wind; you unconsciously balance against it, and the bicycle glides forward under pressure as a boat does with the sail trimmed in.

When starting out, note the weather conditions; what the prevailing winds are and what the changes are likely to be during the time you expect to be on your bicycle. If the wind is west or northwest, do not take that direction for the run out, unless the trip is to be a short one. Always try to have the wind with you, both going and returning. Learn the peculiarities of the weather and study the government weather reports; they are of quite as much assistance to the bicyclist as to the mariner who knows how to use them; for winds frequently change their direction, and the indications for such changes should be sought and studied.

If a short trip is planned, as the wind is not likely to change during the run, start out against the wind; that is, plan to do the hardest work first, and let the wind help on the return. Avoid hard work whenever possible. Hill-climbing against the wind is the hardest kind of work; with the wind to assist, even quite steep hills may often be coasted part of the way up, and all easy grades taken with the feet off the pedals. Coasting should be indulged in with discretion, or the bicycle may run away with you. Check speed at the first indication that the wheel is escaping control by applying the brake and catching the pedal, back pedaling at the same time. On a public road, the bicycle should never be beyond control.

To thoroughly enjoy an outing, road, direction, and atmospheric conditions should be studied. If you are out for several hours’ spin in chilly weather, there is little pleasure to be had in exploring; but in weather when the temperature permits of stops without danger to health, frequent dismounts and short-distance trips across country are enjoyable. One of the pleasures of bicyclists is the good fellowship existing between them, which is rarely disturbed. On the bicycle conversation is interrupted by long pauses, by intervals of silence, when each rider is alone, with opportunity for reflection and mental expansion.

On long trips note first the general direction of the road, the wind, and the sun; try to have the wind with you and the sun behind you for the better part of the day. Be able to change your plans quickly to meet changed conditions, and have a reserve of grit to fall back on if things do not go quite to your liking. Dressed for bicycling, it matters little whether it rains or shines; but wind, sand, and stones make impossible conditions for the bicyclist. When wind has reached a certain velocity, wheeling becomes unsafe. Mud causes the wheels to slip and prevents them from turning; sand does the same. A surface offering little or no resistance is impossible. Stones are dangerously liable to cause spills, while ruts and bumps twist the bicycle and are apt to throw the rider.