done; its texture may be decided suitable if, a piece being held over
the mouth, it is possible to inhale and exhale through it easily. The
cloth should be firm enough to stand wear and rough usage; smooth enough
to shed dust easily; and of a quality that will stand being wet without
shrinking, and will turn the rain if caught in a shower. It should be
firm, elastic, soft; have what is known as substance; be very light in
weight and yet not clinging; and possessing all these qualities, the
ideal cloth for bicycling should not be so expensive that it cannot be
renewed easily.
Simplicity in detail for any garment made to work in is always
commendable, and a bicycle dress must be simple to be suitable.
A corset, if one is worn, should not extend below the waist-line, and
should have elastic side-lacing.
To choose what to wear when the weather is changeable is rather
difficult; and the bicyclist starting early in the morning for an
all-day outing must expect changes of temperature during the day.
Starting, the coat may be folded on the handles, and the sweater worn;
later, as the sun grows warmer, the sweater may be removed; at the
noonday halt, the coat may be donned while lunching, as it usually seems
chilly coming under cover; later in the afternoon the sweater is again
of use; and before the evening is advanced, the coat worn over the
sweater often proves acceptable.
For touring, only an extra change of underwear, with a change of
neckwear, is needed to carry on the wheel.
To look well at all times when bicycling, it is necessary to remember
the possible conditions that may be encountered, and to wear no garment
that may prove incongruous.
When touring, of course, fresh toilettes may be indulged in at the
expense of extra luggage. The chief pleasure of bicycling is
independence and the joy of being free; yet a long trip without access
to the conveniences and even the luxuries of civilization, should not be
attempted. A trunk may be sent home as soon as it has been proved
unnecessary, or sent ahead and met at intervals; but its non-arrival
should never be allowed to disconcert the traveller.
It is an accepted fact that bicycling cannot be properly enjoyed unless
the clothing is suitable. Of course, one can take a drop-frame bicycle,
mount, and wheel slowly for a short distance, barring inconveniences, in
ordinary dress; so can one swim a little if unexpectedly placed in the
water. Bicycling requires the same freedom of movement that swimming
does, and the dress must not hamper or hinder.
_CHAPTER XII._
_Watch and Cyclometer._
Suitably attired, with a bicycle of the latest model and most perfect
construction, it matters little whether the residence be in town or
country, for the largest city is soon left behind. The country, when the
highway ceases to be passable, is easily traversable on the foot-trodden
pathway beside it. Wherever the foot has trodden, the wheel may follow,
if the path be well defined; and as the wheel can be carried easily,
there is no limit but the limit of endurance in crossing country that
cannot be wheeled over. But in order to cover distance without
dismounting and within a time limit, where the speed attained is an
element to be considered, good roads should be chosen.
The bicycle multiplies our power of advancing by five. One who can walk
three miles in an hour can wheel fifteen miles on a bicycle, given all
the conditions necessary to attain that speed for the period of an hour.
The wonderful speed of the running and sprinting athlete is again
multiplied by five, for a short time, in the contests where wheeling
records are made.
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.
In the autumn months, when the sun sets early, a lantern should be
provided even when it seems an absurdly unnecessary encumbrance; for a
town or village where the ordinances are strict may lie on the route,
and the unlucky bicyclist without a light must go afoot.
Of course, speeding cannot be attempted with the bicycle encumbered; but
with all the extras, a good average speed may be maintained. The
bicyclist wishing for freedom from all encumbrance is apt to forget
unpleasant possibilities. A punctured tire thirty miles from anything is
such a possibility; so, though the tool-kit weighs something, it can
never prudently be dispensed with.
Have the bicycle all ready, and start free from care and with a quiet
mind, after a last careful and reassuring inspection of the machine.
Starting from a town with a perfectly running machine, the attention is
first directed to getting into the country easily, either by train or by
wheeling. In wheeling, streets free from traffic and with the best
possible surfaces should be chosen.
Country wheeling is often good when city work is impossible. The dangers
of city wheeling are traffic, car tracks, and mud. City mud is usually
of a greasy nature, very difficult to wheel over. Even pedaling is very
necessary, and uneven pressure on the pedals means a side spill.
In wheeling over mud, never attempt to control the machine by the front
wheel; it must be controlled by the pedals. If too much pressure is
used, there is nothing left but to step off. Do not try to recover by
means of the front wheel; the attempt will be useless, and a fall can be
avoided only by stepping off. Keep the front wheel steady, and rely on
the weight-carrying wheel to take you clear of the mud. Keep a sharp
lookout, and travel slowly. Any one can make a bicycle go.
Get out of town, and then be ready to pedal up to time on the first
clear stretch of good road. Make time, but never hurry. Never work hard
over hill-work or try to go fast against the wind. When using
side-paths, always recollect they may be protected by local ordinances.
Keep posted on the law of the road, taking to the highway on approaching
towns and villages. If the work is hard, travel slowly, and look ahead.
Two good rules are--To travel fast, look well ahead; and watch the
ground when there is a hard bit of road to pass over.
A good stiff pull against the wind can be accomplished easily, really
easily, if you take your time, giving full attention to pedaling, and
keeping the eyes a short distance ahead of the wheel. It is much easier
to rest on the bicycle by slowing than to dismount. In cold weather,
never stop without seeking shelter, at least the lee of bank or wall;
and keep away from a fire, as it renders one liable to take cold.
Nothing is so dangerous in frosty weather as a pause of even a few
minutes dismounted.
In warm weather, it is permissible to drink water when wheeling; but it
should be remembered that the bicyclist passes through all sorts of
country, and the water may sometimes be anything but drinkable from a
sanitary point of view, even causing typhoid and other fevers. Water
that has been boiled is unpalatable, but it is safe; boiled and cooled,
it may be rendered more palatable by shaking it or pouring it from one
pitcher to another to mix air with it. Ice in water is another source of
danger. The water, after being boiled or filtered, should be placed in
bottles with absorbent cotton for stoppers, and cooled by being placed
on ice. Muddy water may be cleansed with a piece of alum. If a lump of
alum is stirred about for a second or two in a pail or pitcher of muddy
water, and then the water allowed to settle, it will be found fit to
boil for drinking. Bottled waters are safest when the country is unknown
or when there is doubt as to the purity of the local supply; but failing
these, the precautions mentioned will ensure safety.
Never prolong bicycle exercise without eating, and never work after a
hearty meal; but the consumption of a couple of sandwiches at noon
cannot be regarded as a serious meal; and it is often better to push on
after a short halt, moving slowly, than to sit around on rocks or stumps
to wait for a proper digestive period to elapse. It is well to have a
small reserve supply of food, such as chocolate or beef tablets, to tide
one over a prolonged period between meals. Milk and bread and cheese
are good to take as an extra meal. Never work hungry if it can be
avoided; the bicycle will lag, and the cyclist wonder at being weary.
Keep up the food supply by all means, for fatigue sets in quickly with
the desire for food, and the system quickly becomes enfeebled.
The cyclometer registers each revolution of the wheel, and by an
ingenious mechanism the dial gives the record in miles. There is a great
temptation to roll up miles, that the cyclometer may make a good
showing; indeed, this striving after mileage often becomes a ruling
passion, interfering with the real pleasures of the sport.
The pedestrian, accustomed to noting distances, can usually judge the
rate or pace travelled, and decide very accurately upon the distance
traversed, with only the time as a guide; for the pace, so many miles an
hour, multiplied by the number of hours, gives the distance.
On the bicycle the pace is very easily estimated in a similar manner.
Count the strokes per minute as each knee rises, divide that by two, and
you have the number of revolutions of the crank. The gear gives the
diameter of the wheel larger than the one on the bicycle; sixty-four
gear, for instance, means that the crank revolution covers a distance
equal to a wheel with a diameter of sixty-four inches. The circumference
of a wheel is three times its diameter; and 64 multiplied by 3 equals
192 inches measured on the ground for one revolution of the crank.
Multiply the distance measured on the ground by the crank revolution by
the number of strokes made per minute, divide by twelve to give the
number of feet the crank has covered in one revolution, and you have the
distance in feet travelled per minute. To find the rate of miles per
hour, multiply that result by 60 to find the number of feet travelled
per hour, and divide the result by 5280, the number of feet in a mile.
The watch should have a second hand for bicycle work. The cyclometer
taken for five minutes, then multiplied by twelve, gives the rate of
mileage per hour, a very convenient way of ascertaining the rate of
speed per hour.
It is well to know the rhythm of stroke of a certain rate per hour, for
it is often of assistance in determining distance, and will frequently
prevent a hurry when train connections are to be made, by assuring you
that you are easily travelling a pace that will take you to your
destination on time.
The alertness and quickness of perception that bicycling cultivates seem
marvellous. A road, previously accepted as ordinarily good, becomes full
of pitfalls that the wary learn to avoid. Slippery or uneven surfaces,
tacks and broken glass, are to be noted and avoided, inequalities
allowed for, and preparation made to overcome the tendency of the
machine on unexpected hard bits of road.
One of the dangers of sidepath wheeling often encountered is a slippery
spot or a place where the surface may give way, such as the edge of a
bank along which the path runs, with a fence on the other side. Here, if
the bicycle slips, the bicyclist is pretty sure to be thrown against the
fence. In sidepath wheeling a sharp lookout must be kept for these
slippery spots and weak edges, and also for stones or stumps that run
through the uneven surface.
A first coast on a hill whose pitch has been miscalculated, and which
proves steeper than was anticipated, is a terrible surprise. To find
one’s self clinging desperately to a runaway machine, with no hope save
in the ascending grade that seems so far away, is anything but a
pleasant experience. In such case sit still, hold fast, keep straight,
and if nothing is in the way to collide with, there is hope, barring
unexpected surface obstacles. The coaster’s safety in steering lies in
swaying; the pedals are out of the question, and the front wheel is
better undisturbed. A slight inclination to either side will alter the
course of the bicycle without interfering with balance or momentum, and
the hands can be ready, gripping hard, to keep the wheel steady.
In coasting, sit well in the saddle, letting that take the whole weight,
and do not push too hard with the feet on the coasters. The feet should
not be braced against the coasters, but should rest easily against them
with an even pressure.
To learn to coast, practise at first either on a slight or a small
grade; another way is to get up speed on the level, and take one foot
off at the time. The most marvellous experience of bicycling is to have
a wind carry you coasting up hill--a wind, too, that is seemingly
adverse, or at least not directly favorable.
Trust to the map, the watch, and the cyclometer to locate your
whereabouts, and do not place too much faith in answers to inquiries,
unless you are speaking to a bicyclist; for people unaccustomed to
accurate judgment differ greatly in their estimation of a given distance
or a general direction. You need only stop three or four times in a mile
or two, and inquire the way to a town say five or six miles distant, to
be convinced of this fact.
_CHAPTER XIII._
_Women and Tools._
Most women can sew on a button or run up a seam; sewing, in fact, is
regarded rather as a feminine instinct than an art. There are many
capable people in the world, both men and women, who can comprehend at a
glance the use or the application of an article or an idea--people who
instinctively use their eyes and hands with ease and accuracy; there are
others who learn more slowly to use their mechanical senses; and there
are also those whose attention has never been called to certain simple
mechanical facts and details that they are quite capable of
understanding. To all the mastery of these facts means an expenditure of
more or less time, and in this busy world of ours, there is nothing so
much appreciated or so carelessly wasted. It is my intention to place
before my readers a few simple mechanical explanations.
I hold that any woman who is able to use a needle or scissors can use
other tools equally well. It is a very important matter for a bicyclist
to be acquainted with all parts of the bicycle, their uses and
adjustment. Many a weary hour would be spared were a little proper
attention given at the right time to your machine.
[Illustration: STARTING A NUT.]
Ask any carriage maker or coachman, and he will tell you that everything
on wheels needs attention. Any owner or lover of horses will say that
horses require constant care. The bicyclist is the motor, the horse; the
bicycle, the vehicle. These ideas should remain distinct. When you mount
a wheel, you do not mount an iron horse; you are a human propelling
power, and the bicycle is a carriage.
It is all important to work without unnecessary effort, and for this you
must have a knowledge of bicycle construction, how to make the machine
run smoothly, and how not to injure the human motor or the mechanism.
The human body is so beautifully self-adjustable that it may be safely
attributed to ignorance or neglect if anything goes wrong with it.
Attention should always be paid at the right time to nature’s warnings;
they are danger-signals, and if disregarded, unpleasant results are sure
to follow. A little common-sense goes far; and with that and a right
knowledge--not necessarily an extensive knowledge--of the working of the
human machine, there need be little to fear from injuries resulting from
athletic exercise.
The amount of work different individuals can perform, of course, varies.
Find out how much work you ought to do, and do it. A physician is the
only competent judge of your limitations. Never attempt any new form of
exercise without being examined for it. Sensible people when they
purchase a horse require a veterinary certificate to accompany the
guarantee; and the work the horse is to do is planned according to the
ascertained amount the animal is capable of performing. If it is right
for you to wheel but five miles every other day, and at a certain hour
only, it does not follow that that is always to be your limit. Practice
accomplishes great results; and the strength and endurance that come of
exercise taken regularly, under proper conditions, seems marvellous to
those who, after a course of proper preparation, attempt and accomplish
with pleasure and ease what at first seemed impossible. It is hard, of
course, to see some one else do what you would like to do and cannot;
but it is weak not to be able to say, “I have done enough, and I must
stop.” There are many other people similarly placed.
The bicycle may be so adapted and adjusted as to enable bicyclists of
different powers to work together and enjoy a fair amount of
sociability; for if one has wheeled around the world, why should that
spoil one’s pleasure in wheeling around a block? To wheel alone is not
much pleasure. Find some one to wheel around the block with you, and you
have the beginning of a club.
Many people do not understand what is best for them. The experienced
athlete knows the amount of work he can do, and what must be done and
avoided to enable him to do his work well. Women and girls are able to
do good work, but they should not expect to accomplish such a result
through ignorance or neglect. They must be willing to study and to give
proper attention to important details, and their knowledge of the
subject must be sufficient to enable them to use judgment and
discrimination. Almost any form of athletics will aid in cultivating
these qualities; and bicycling has besides valuable educational features
of its own. A certain familiarity with mechanics is assured by a course
of bicycling, for it is impossible to handle a bicycle without taking
some degree of interest in its construction.