The saddle should be adjusted in relation to the pedals for the carrying
of the cranks past the dead centre. The angle of the saddle should be
studied, and the adjustment permit of its use as a fulcrum in hill-work,
while admitting of balance-work on a level and of comfort and ease in
coasting. It should support the weight when the feet are on the forks,
not merely permit of balancing.
In studying this adjustment, weight, length of limb, strength, and the
work to be done should all be taken into consideration. The rule that
what is lost in speed is gained in power should comfort the hill climber
when, half-way up a grade, the bicycle gradually loses speed, and seems
to be stopping, in spite of all efforts to the contrary.
In mounting, the machine is started by the placing of the weight on the
pedal, and in hill-climbing the weight should be used to force the pedal
down and around. The bringing of the pedal into position where the
weight will take effect is the true secret of success. Follow this by
making the weight carry as far as possible, prolonging its usefulness by
pushing the pedal back past the lowest dead centre, and following and
lifting it. But it is useless to prolong the work if the commencement of
the stroke is not executed in an effective manner.
The up-coming pedal must either be pulled up, or have all weight removed
to permit the power to be fully effective on the down pedal. What is the
point where power applied will begin to tell? If the upper dead centre
is left to be overcome by the downward stroke of the foot on the pedal,
the foot on the ascending pedal is doing no work, only kept from doing
harm, held in a cramped position.
After carrying the crank past the lower dead centre, the weight is
removed and the angle of the foot changed from pointing the toe down to
holding the toe up and dropping the heel. As the foot-rest will follow
the sole of the foot, it is a simple matter to change the pressure from
pushing and pulling up to pressing and shoving over. Before the crank
has arrived at the top of the circle, say at sixty degrees, the heel
should be lowered, and the attention directed to pushing the cranks over
and past the dead centre. As the top of the circle is reached, the foot
levels, and prepares to point the toe to make an effective downward
thrust. Rise from the saddle a little at this point, to make the weight
more effective, and prepare to carry the pedal back as far as possible.
This method leaves very little time for the foot to change its angle.
From the toe pointing downward to the toe held up ready to push, the
change from pull to push is abrupt, and hill-work depends on correct
ankle-motion more than anything else. The ankle-motion may be corrected
by swaying, the hands meanwhile being held lightly on the handle-bars
ready for emergencies, but not used for the work of climbing.
[Illustration: HILL-CLIMBING--PUSHING CRANK OVER.]
The breathless condition induced by extra work may be remedied; for the
upper chest is forced to expand, while, if the arms are held rigid, a
plentiful supply of air for the lungs is not insured. (See Chapter on
Exercises). Free combustion is needed for the extra power exerted.
The bicycle and its load are lifted, and a given weight requires a given
power to lift it. That power must be supplied by the stored force of the
human body, and must be utilized to the best advantage if the work is to
be prolonged. Hill-work is not impossible of achievement; but it
requires intelligent work unless one applies mechanical laws
intuitively. Easy hill-work is delightful; it is work, hard work, but
work done without strain. Nothing, on the other hand, can be more
injurious than forced hill-climbing; the strain on heart and lungs is
severe, particularly for one wearing a tight belt, or any constrictive
clothing about the waist.
Because a hill looks rough and the surface difficult, it does not at all
follow that it will be bad wheeling. If the tires are not too full,
inequalities of surface are an assistance, helping to block the wheels,
and preventing them from slipping back, while the soft tire takes up the
stones and bumps, holding on by them. Always look well at your hill on
approaching it; study its inclination, determine its grade, and the
nature of its surface, and quickly decide how best to attack it.
On mounting the top of a grade, never hurry or increase speed; wheel
along slowly and easily, with the mouth shut, until rested and really
ready to start up. If there is a good coast, don’t hurry to it, but
keep working gently until the balance of the respiratory organs is fully
restored. Then take the coast, and all the benefits of hard work, and
rest, and the exhilarating effects of swift motion and free oxidation
are fully realized.
To work in balance or equilibrium is the aim of hill-work, and there
should not be too abrupt a transition after severe exertion. Pedal along
at a pace to restore the breathing after hard work, then change; never
dismount when breathless, but wheel along slowly. The strain is thus
much less than by forcing the body to accommodate itself to a change of
position just when a general easing is required, a general slackening of
all the muscles that have been at work.
Rest always before dismounting long enough at least to restore
breathing; and rather than coast after climbing, back-pedal gently and
slowly if the grade should descend from the top of the ascent.
Never let a hill get the better of you, if it is one that you have a
chance to attack a second time. Set to work and study it. Find out the
changes of grade, and prepare for a change in the amount of power at the
proper place in the incline. See if the grade is simple, prolonged, or
compound. If the surface is very smooth, it will be more difficult.
There is a bit of road that I remember well, a country road, seemingly
good enough, with a little grade perhaps in some places; but, one after
another, it dismounted us all. A heavy Telford pavement was laid, but
there was still a mile and a half of that road that winded the best of
us every time. Though it was up grade all the way, experience had taught
us that at places we must stop, and mount again and go on. Our machines
were heavy, but this fact did not explain what puzzled us; for it ought
not to be easier to start a heavy wheel up a grade than to continue to
wheel up steadily. Knowing this bit of road so well, we were on the
lookout to note its effect on others; and there were always wheels lined
up at some part of the road, and a curious variety of expressions on the
countenances of their riders--puzzled defeat on those unacquainted with
the road, and sad determination on those who knew it too well.
After a careful study of this grade, that was long but not steep, and
seemingly not difficult, we found it made up of a series of differently
inclined planes and curves, the up-curves all against us; and, taken
from foot to top, there was a continued increase of pitch, with certain
changes that were all against wheeling; and moreover a generally
increasing pitch for the whole distance, and four places of change of
grade, each change an increase of pitch and an increased angle of
ascent. The smooth surface concealed these difficulties at first, making
the deceptive stretch appear easy and inviting. It was like the inside
of a curved line set with scollops.
To overcome this most difficult kind of incline, wheel along at a good
pace, note the increase of grade, and drop the heel at the beginning of
the down stroke, or rather while the pedal is half way on the up stroke
and the foot is prepared to resist the change. Take into consideration
the fact that an increase of power is necessary; look where to apply it,
adjust the balance of the body to the work, and your work will be
effective.
_CHAPTER IX._
_Position and Power._
The racing wheelman has adopted a position that has received much
censure--a position accepted as the one enabling applied power to
produce the greatest speed. If this position is analyzed and compared
with the erect position, several interesting features may be noted, and
by comparing the two positions, important information may be gathered.
The bicyclist seated upon the saddle, not against it, has little power
for work. The thrust is downward; there can be no forward push or
backward thrust, unless the hands grip the handle-bars and pull against
the push, if the push needed is greater than can be resisted by the
weight of the body.
The power of the stroke is all in the downward direction; there can be
but little power in the forward thrust; the most important part of the
stroke in hill-climbing is that given by getting behind the pedal and
pushing it down. If the saddle be too far forward, power is again lost
in the push and thrust, and the up-and-down motion must do the work, and
power is lost on the down thrust, though added in the upward and
backward push.
We may conclude that a proper position has much to do with the work of
bicycling; that there is more than one correct position, different
positions being adapted to different work. The racing position on the
bicycle is the position for speed, and is the position of the running
athlete. It is not adapted to moving at a moderate pace or to being
maintained for any length of time. It is the position in which power may
be most readily converted into speed; where the leverage may be applied
with the greatest efficiency, and the greatest amount of work
accomplished in the least possible time.
The drop position also takes the strain off the upper leg muscles, and
is desirable on that account, apart from the fact that more power may be
exerted from that position. The leg does not straighten out, and is
always ready to give a powerful stroke and maintain an increased or even
speed. It is a position of continuous movement; and if the weight and
all the muscles are not directed to propel, the weight is improperly
supported on all fours.
The position for speed where the weight is distributed between
handle-bar, saddle, and pedals is not suitable for road work, nor can it
be maintained for any long period without injurious results. It is the
position where power is best converted into speed.
For prolonged work a different position is demanded. Here speed is not a
necessary factor, but ease of movement and continuous movement are
essential. We are not anxious to convert power quickly, but rather to
reserve our powers, and use them slowly.
[Illustration: COASTING.]
For pleasure riding and ordinary exercise, the erect position is the
best. The drop position is the racing or running position; the erect
position, the position of ease.
Here the saddle question presents itself. The saddle should support the
weight while seated, or, in the racing position, hold the weight; it
should not hamper movement, and should be comfortable for coasting. In
moving over the ground, the relative position for the balance of the
cyclist changes according to the grades; and the seat should be adjusted
so as to be adaptable to the different positions required to enable the
bicyclist to change the balance for the work of the moment.
There is also the position adapted to quick work and exercise. Change in
adjustment of the application of power varies with the amount of work
done by the bicyclist in covering a certain distance. The resistance
caused by change of speed and varied wind resistance have also to be
taken into the calculation. People of different lengths of leverage must
study the different adjustments of the machine to produce the best
results for the different kinds of work required of the machine.
When a hill is to be surmounted, the climb should be made without
effort, that is, effort understood in its technical sense. The position
should be such as to permit of work being done by the foot, and the
power should be applied at the right time and place. Assistance by a
pull on the handle-bars means lessened power on the stroke. Effort
succeeds effort. The work should be done by the foot, the pelvis being
the fulcrum. The saddle should be the real fulcrum. If the hands are
used to do the work by pulling, the pelvis becomes the only fulcrum, and
the bicycle saddle is not used at all for the application of power. The
weight should be made to do as much of the work as possible, and the
added resistance of lever pressure made auxiliary.
To obtain leverage for the hands, it is necessary to use a fulcrum.
Where is that fulcrum located? Each set of muscles pulls on its point of
application--the hand on the arm, the arm on the shoulder, the shoulder
on the thorax, the thorax on the pelvis. If more power is needed, it
must require effort.
In hill-climbing, effort is a physiological phenomenon associated with
great expenditure of force. In making an effort, exerting force, the
air-passages of the lungs are closed, the air in them making of them an
air-cushion, as it were, which acts as a fulcrum for certain extra
muscular combinations. This accounts for the feeling of suffocation
experienced in severe hill-climbing, which should never be prolonged.
The hill should be climbed with the hands held easily, not gripping the
handles; and gripping and pulling on the handles, it should be
remembered, lessen the power for prolonged work. Squeezing the
handle-bars induces involuntary lung compression, and pulling on them
adds to the strain. Lean forward, if need be, to balance and maintain
the equilibrium, but do not maintain the centre of gravity by pulling on
the handles.
[Illustration: WHEELING ONE FOOT OVER.]
The fixed position of the arms, when sitting with spinal column erect,
certainly prevents a full, free inflation of the lungs; the shoulders
are held fixed, and between the saddle and the fixed shoulders there
is no up and down lung-play. In running, the forearms and shoulders
permit free chest expansion. In the racing position on a bicycle, the
arms and shoulders take the same relative position as in running, and a
full, free lung expansion is obtained.
No rigidity is maintained between shoulders and saddle in the racing
drop-position.
For speeding and work of that kind, the position that allows of the
greatest flexibility as well as the greatest leverage is the position to
be chosen.
In travelling and in every-day wheeling, the position should be one
permitting the minimum expenditure of power; the weight should be
supported, yet the position should be such as to permit the weight to be
used as a propelling power. The hands should be held where they are
supported and in the position where they can most easily control the
wheel under any change of conditions. The saddle should be placed where
the foot can act most effectively at all parts or at as many parts as
possible of the circle that the pedal describes. The height of the
saddle should be calculated to permit of extension of the leg without
supporting the weight on the saddle, which causes compression of the
larger veins and arteries. The foot should at all times be fully on the
pedal; that is, the position should permit of throwing all the weight on
to the pedals, whatever the position of the cranks at the moment. The
handle-bar should be adjusted; also length of arm and relative position;
and the weight, height, and curve of bar adapted to suit individual
build.
Length of crank, gear, height, position, and adjustments of saddle may
be used as factors in adjustment of position for ease of movement and
prevention of fatigue. Each individual has different combinations of
lever power, varying with the lengths of the different parts of
different limbs. One may have a long thigh-bone with short lower leg;
another may have just the reverse combination--short thigh-bone and long
lower leg.
The crank is the lever of application of power; the gear, the power in
resistance. The gear determines, in a sense, how much force is needed;
the length of crank, combined with the levers of foot and leg, the
proper or most comfortable lever for overcoming that resistance.
Long-limbed people do well on long cranks, short-limbed people on short
cranks,--the question of length of limb to be determined, not by actual
measurement, but as to the proportions in weight and length of limbs
generally. Either too long or too short a crank will produce numbness
and fatigue. The leg and foot on the crank as it works form a crank
lever movement. The crank of a bicycle should be of such length as to
permit of the greatest amount of force being conveyed along the lever
movement with the least resistance.
The sprocket-wheel is the weight to be moved by the crank; but the crank
is only one of a series of levers.
[Illustration: WHEELING FROM THE PEG--SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT.]
The knee, the ankle, and the pedal-pin must revolve in a circle or a
part of a circle; and each individual must find out the size of circle
that is determined by the crank that will best move in adjustment
with his individual lever combination. A small circle on the pedal may
mean cramped or uncomfortable movement for a long-limbed cyclist; or a
large pedal circle too great distance to traverse on the stroke for a
short-limbed cyclist. A stout person working on a high gear, with a
crank adapted to his requirements, makes fewer strokes of the pedal for
distance traversed, but expends more power at each stroke; therefore,
when wishing to reduce weight, he should use a low gear, working
rapidly, and when wishing to travel easily, a higher gear. A thin person
should be careful to choose such a length of crank and such a gear as
will give ease, so that undue fatigue may be avoided.
The position of the saddle should be most carefully considered. It
should be just far enough back to permit of getting a forward pressure
on the pedal against the crank, as it were, at the top of the stroke,
and yet have something to work against in hill-climbing. The tilt or
inclination should be studied as well as the build of the saddle; its
height from the pedal should allow the foot, when on the pedal, at its
most distant point from the saddle, to press with the ball firmly on the
pedal; and yet the saddle, when the leg is extended, should not press so
as to compress the large blood vessels of the inside of the leg as it
rests against the saddle.
The handle-bar adjustment permits of individual preference to a certain
extent. The handles should be within easy reach of the hands and below
the line of the elbow. If above the level, power is lost, and the
controlling sense of direction as well. The grip on the handles is
instinctive, and as there is much work for the hands to do, they should
be able to grip easily and quickly, and to move easily in all directions
that the handles take, retaining their controlling power undiminished. A
position with the hands reaching down a little gives more power than a
position with the hands reaching up; and in this position the leverage
of the elbows and the power of the shoulder and upper arm may be more
effectively exerted.
Speed work should be done only on a track or a place set apart for that
kind of work; and the most delicate adjustment and balance of weight and
pressure should be studied to produce the proper results. Scorching,
also, to be effective, should be done only on a track, and the position
for the work should be planned most carefully. High speed over rough
surfaces on even well-made roads may prove disastrous if the position
for the work is not a correct one. Serious injury may result to the
bicyclist working incorrectly, with wheel out of adjustment.
Scorching and racing, however, are not properly part of the subject of
bicycling, but are a sport, and should be separately considered.
The adjustment of position may be changed for rest or for any particular
purpose; but for practical purposes it is well to adopt a fixed
adjustment of handle-bar and saddle and length of crank and gear, and
adhere to that, endeavoring to acquire the best form on a machine
adapted to suit your individual requirements.
A bicycle should be used only by the person for whom it has been
adjusted; for comfort on a bicycle depends on such infinitely small
adjustments. Never lend a bicycle or a tool, and never make any change
in adjustment by guess. For ordinary use, the saddle should be a little
back of the pedals and not too high, and the handles within easy reach.
This will allow of the balance and adjustment of weight and balance to
suit changing conditions of surface and grade.
Sprinting is often tempting, and comparatively harmless. Scorching is a
form of bicycle intoxication, and the taste once acquired, the bicyclist
craves its excitement, caring little for the other pleasures of the
sport. The scorcher sees little, hears little, and is conscious of
little but the exhilaration of the moment, and seems to be imbued with
the idea of consuming a certain amount of tissue in a given time.
Scorching is a form of bicycling hardly to be commended, and reckless
scorching is to be condemned at all times. Sprinting consumes a large
quantity of material in a limited time, and though it is well at times
to practise speeding, still the getting up of speed involves
considerable expenditure of power and greatly increased momentum, and
should be indulged in only by those who understand the limit of their
powers and know what they hold in reserve.
The wheel of to-day was evolved on the race-track and for the conditions
determined thereon; and the amateur bicyclist owes much to the
professional wheelman. Improvements in construction, in detail, and in
adaptability have reached a certain limit, a limit of possibilities in
certain directions. It behooves us now to accept the machine and to
adapt ourselves to its requirements and to avail ourselves of all that
it offers.
The elasticity of the machine, the resiliency of the tire, rigidity of
frame, position, vibration, and concussion should be next considered.
On a bicycle fitted with a rigid saddle and with hard tires, well blown
up, the vibration that is conveyed through the entire machine is very
perceptible, even on a smooth wheeling surface. Over uneven country,
Belgian blocks, or other rough or corrugated surfaces, the vibration
produces concussion; and if too erect and rigid a position is
maintained, fatigue, if nothing worse, is sure to result.
On a horse the position, while erect, is studied to lessen the
concussion; the weight is carried well under to avoid it. The flexible
curve of the spine is there, though not perceptible, as the body is held
erect and in balance. The lower part of the body becomes part of the
saddle, the upper body flexible from above the hips. The concussion
comes as each of the horse’s feet is placed on the ground; while
concussion on the bicycle is produced by the change caused by each
inequality of surface. The pneumatic tire lessens this to a degree, if
not blown up too hard; for inequalities sink into the yielding surface
that would make a wheel with a hard tire bump.
The frame should be stiff to hold its direction, and the saddle elastic
enough to interrupt the vibration of the frame. The position on the
saddle should be studied to prevent tension or compression of any of
the joints, large or small; and the spine should be easily erect, not
stiff and rigid, but flexible.
The sense of balance and the adjustment required to balance the bicycle
tends to keep the body flexible. The danger to be avoided is concussion
induced by a rigid position--a position where, the bones being held
closely against each other by tense muscles, shock is easily conveyed
over the entire body.
Let the weight come well on the saddle, in such a position that it can
be shifted to the pedals at will; and let the whole trunk be flexible,
elastically flexible, equally in all directions. Then the bicycle may be
controlled almost unconsciously and from the saddle, the hands being
used only in an auxiliary manner. The front wheel may be steered and
controlled from the saddle by means of the power over the front wheel
gained by the bicycle frame construction.