Harper's Round Table, September 10, 1895

by Various

INCORRECT SCORCHING.

But there are correct and incorrect racing positions, and the two illustrations on the subject will give you a suggestion of these. A "scorching" position cannot be taken on a bicycle where the saddle and handle-bars have been arranged for the upright road position. This can be easily seen by referring to the illustrations again. In the correct scorching position the handles are very low down, and the seat is raised and tipped forward, so that the rider, while pulling up strongly on the handles, is practically only leaning against the saddle, and putting all his weight on the pedals. The back is curved rather than straight, because a much greater purchase can be obtained in this way; and indeed the curved back makes a much more vigorous and symmetrical attitude.

The important point to remember is, however, that you cannot assume the scorching position and the upright road position on the same bicycle without putting on different handle-bars. Hence, when you see a man trying this portion with high handles you know he is wrong. On the other hand, to start out for a pleasant afternoon run through the country for twenty-five miles in a scorching position is just as absurd as it would be if a man riding a horse in the Park for pleasure should assume the jockey seat. There is neither rhyme nor reason in it. Finally, a half-way position—one between the upright and the scorching positions—is worst of all.

CORRECT LENGTH OF REACH.

Another important point in road-riding is the height of the saddle above the lowest point in the arc described by the pedals. Experience has shown that when the pedal is at its lowest and you are sitting squarely on the saddle, your heel should be on a level with the toe of the boot and your knee a trifle bent. Or, to put it differently, it should be possible for you to place the ball of your foot on the pedal and follow it around in its circle without absolutely straightening your leg to its utmost. Or, still again, as other people describe it, you should be able to put the toe of your shoe under the pedal and keep it there all the way round, the leg being straightened at the longest stretch. The illustration representing this shows the correct length of stride, and by referring to another cut you will see what results when the rider has raised his seat so high that he is obliged to let his toes point down with a straight leg in order to follow the pedal around. This illustration, representing too long a stride, shows by the wrinkles in the rider's trousers and shirt that he is compelled to lower not only his hips but his whole side and shoulder, and, of course, the same is repeated alternately on the other side. As these photographs were taken by an instantaneous slide, and the riders were in motion, they are all actual positions during riding, and as such illustrate exactly what happens in each case.

TOO LONG A REACH.

In this case of too long a stride there is real danger to health in the long-run. The wheelman makes many thousand revolutions in a week, and rides throughout a good part of the year, and any one can see in a moment that this constant working of all the vital parts of the body must be anything but healthy. Furthermore, aside from the question of health altogether, a wheelman becomes quickly tired out with this continual shifting. He may not know what is the cause of his weariness, but it is sure to be partly due to it if he rides in that way. There is no reason why a rider should want to have a long stride. It does not make any greater speed, and it actually detracts from the power of his stroke.

Now a word as to the ankle movement. Of course the force applied through the foot to the pedal at the moment when the latter is one-quarter way round the circle from the top, or, in other words, half-way "down," is the most valuable and powerful. Just as in rowing, the strength put into the oar when it is exactly at right angles with the boat is the most valuable. And, furthermore, the earlier or later the strength is applied to the pedals the less and less powerful it becomes so far as sending the wheel ahead goes. If you press down hard when the pedal is nearly or fully down to its lowest point you are scarcely sending the wheel ahead at all, and all your exertion goes for nothing therefore. Practically speaking, in order to get the best of your strength in at the quarter-circle point you should begin to push, and push vigorously, the moment the pedal has passed by its highest point. The push should be quick and short, and should stop as soon as possible after the quarter-circle point has been passed. There is an instant of rest there, and then the heel should be raised a little and a sharp upward and backward pull made on this same pedal at the same instant that the downward push is being made on the other pedal with the other foot. As a result, the rider is pulling up with one foot while he is pushing down with the other, and there are therefore two distinct motions with each leg during a single revolution of the pedal. Many riders only push downward, and allow the pedals to rise of their own accord, so to speak, but they waste a part of the force of each revolution by this—not a half, but fully one-third of what they might easily put into it.