Another opinion on the subject of health is as follows, from The Cyclist, by Dr. Jennings:
“‘It is perhaps inevitable that persons who have no practical experience should accuse the exercise, on theoretical grounds, of producing various evils, such as varicose veins, hernia, hemorrhoids, urethral stricture, and various forms of cardiac and nervous diseases. As to varicose veins, it seems to be clearly established that in those cases in which this condition is due to chronic local causes, to constipation, and a sedentary life, actual benefit is derived from cycling, and that even in those cases which are due to organic visceral disease no harm is done.... As to cardiac and nervous disease, the case is different. Race-meetings and the silly craze to “break the record” have much to answer for. It is not difficult to understand how such exercises may cause permanent injury to the heart, neurasthenia, or even organic nervous disease.’ We presume the writer refers to such exertions on the part of wholly or partially trained men, for we have Dr. Turner’s word for it, and that is also the word of a practical athlete, that to men in condition harm does not result.”
The importance of some care and knowledge on any subject connected with spirited exercise should always be borne in mind; not only should we give attention to the matter of saddles, but also to any other point which may seem to be important. I append an article from the Bicycling World, on another branch of the subject of health in cycling, which explains itself.
“A SOURCE OF DANGER TO WHEELMEN.
“I would most earnestly call the attention of all wheelmen to that most dangerous custom of wearing belts drawn tightly about the waist to support the pants, or even where they are laced tightly or where there is any constriction about the waist whatever.
“Many wheelmen are leading sedentary lives, especially the older riders, and are not physically in a proper condition to put forth the very severe muscular exertions which all wheelmen are called upon to do, and one of the dangers which I wish to particularly call attention to is that of causing hernia or rupture.
“I know of two cases of hernia caused directly by the severe exertions put forth in climbing steep hills. One of them was a particularly strong, healthy, and robust young man, and I am quite confident that the indirect cause of those herniæ was the wearing of tight belts. The young man alluded to above has always been very active in out-door sports, very fond of lifting, and made it a common custom to put forth his utmost strength whenever opportunity offered, and he never had any tendency towards such a result until he began bicycling, which brought about an entire change in form of dress.
“When any person puts forth his strength in lifting—‘hill-climbing is merely a form of lifting’—the abdominal muscles are called strongly into play, and if by belting or other means they are prevented from expanding and increasing the circumference of the waist, their force is then directed towards forcing the abdominal contents downward, and thereby greatly increasing the chances of causing hernia.
“The clothing should always be loose about the waist. As suspenders are inconvenient to wear and very uncomfortable in hot weather, I would suggest that the simplest, and I think the best, way of holding up the trousers is by means of a band sewed around the inside of the flannel shirt, with buttons sewed through the shirt and band and then the button-holes made on an extra band on the inside of band of trousers, the same as little boys’ waists and trousers are joined.
“I sincerely trust that no one will misconstrue this article as condemning wheeling; no one believes in it more thoroughly than your humble servant. I am writing from experience, not hearsay, and I would desire all wheelmen to give heed to my warning, and so avoid a source of danger.
“L. A. W., 18,954.”
[“The above is written by a physician who has made a special study of hernia.—Ed.”]
There are some strong opinions on the other side of this belt question, if the belts are of proper kind and rightly worn. Very few agree unconditionally with L. A. W. However, it is hoped that no alarm will be taken from the discussion of these subjects. They are not so serious as might appear, except in cases of gross negligence. But whatever danger there may be, it is best to be fully aware of it, and thus be forearmed. As to saddles and springs, let riders show the makers that they are alive to all improvements which will in any way eliminate causes for anxiety in this as well as in other respects, and thereby show that the fact of making a mile in a little shorter space of time, or that of getting one inch farther up a stiff hill, is not all that the modern cyclist proposes to consider.
CHAPTER XII.
HEADERS OR CROPPERS.
“Taking headers,” or, in the parlance of our brethren of England, “coming croppers,” is perhaps a trivial heading for any article outside of newspaper or wheel periodical gossip, but it has a popular twang, and to the fraternity means a great deal. Every rider of the old Ordinary can give us personal experiences on this subject; among them will be found mishaps too serious to be chronicled in any jesting mood, a few so serious that we would fain forget them were not this forbidden by our sympathy and respect for the sufferers as fellows of our craft. From this sombre side of our story how joyfully we turn to the many humorous anecdotes which have been related in every club-room, in some of which “we ourselves were part of what we told!”
The subject would ere this have been obsolete were it not for a large number who still maintain the supremacy of the “Ordinary,” and those others who, forming an intermediate class between the old and new, have unfurled their banner as doughty champions of the “Rational.”
A header is the act of “going down on the other side,” spoken of in a former chapter, or, more definitely, it is the projection of the rider over the handle-bar to the ground in advance of his machine. It is a simple process, being a mere application of the physical forces of gravity and momentum. A moving body tends to keep moving in a line until stopped or deviated by some counteracting force. In riding a cycle a certain momentum is acquired and kept up against the resisting forces of friction, impact of air, road resistance, etc. Headers are a result of a counteracting force, generally caused by sudden impact against a stationary obstacle on the road, or by the forward wheel becoming suddenly locked through a failure in the axle-bearings to work, or by some clog in the wheel preventing it from revolving freely through the fork in which it is hung. There are modifications of the header action even in machines of the same sizes of wheels and same rake,—rake being a term recognized to express the angle of the front fork from the vertical. This rake has to do with the liability to headers only in so far as it regulates the centre of gravity of the system, “more rake” generally meaning that the rider is farther behind the vertical line through the front wheel axle.