Here is an anecdote which may seem astonishing. A man of fifty suffering from stiff joints took to our friend the bike. It was uphill work. His highest record a day during the second year was only seven miles. He grew rapidly well now, and in one year covered 4,000 miles, and in a single day did 80 miles. So there is hope for two classes of sufferers.
Nor would age seem to be a drawback, for we read of a man of seventy riding nearly ninety miles in a day.
People with delicate chests, if not consumptive, are often cured by cycling. My advice is first to consult a doctor, or, if not, to begin with very, very easy records and increase only as the strength increases. At the end of six months you may be astonished at your strength, the ease and freedom with which you can ride, walk, and breathe, and at your ability to sleep soundly. Yes, as a cure for sleeplessness, cycling beats all the medicine in the world, because, see, even the safest of sleeping draughts only removes a symptom, while riding strikes at the very root of the trouble.
Nervousness soon flies when one begins to cycle. In fact, you forget all about it. You ride right away from it, and it isn’t fast enough to follow you.
Anæmia. This is another ailment which biking banishes. Of course a pale bloodless lassie must take care how she does ride at first. She must not attempt to go fast nor to go out with any companion who recklessly tries to break records. But the fresh air purifies and thickens the blood; the riding puts every organ of the body into gentle play, and in a few months she will be able, in all probability, to keep the pace with her neighbours.
In a word, there is no chronic ailment which I can remember at present, which cycling (always gentle at first) cannot remedy.
I have said already that the delicate ought first to consult the family doctor. If he is a cyclist himself he will let you mount. If not, he may advise walking or carriage exercise. But who that can ride would care to loll lazily in the best carriage ever drawn by horses?
Opinions of Others.
Says Abbott Bassett, “Believe me, ladies, if your health and strength leave something to be desired, if you feel the need of exercise in the fresh air; if you suffer from that terrible scourge which overcomes your sex, sick headache; if you wish to strengthen yourselves morally, and accumulate a store of agreeable reminiscences, ride a cycle. Believe me, you will never forget it; from henceforth you will always be happy. You will laugh, eat, and sleep.” (Vide Cycling and Health, by Dr. Jenner of Paris. Translation published by Iliffe and Sons.)
“When one is in the saddle,” says a Boston lady, “and flying over a good road, one experiences what a bird may feel; in fact, the weight of the body is so well disposed on the machine that it is not felt.”