The advantages of a fine physical form are under-estimated by a
large class of people, who have a half-defined impression that any
considerable addition to the muscles and general physique must be at
the expense of the mental qualities. This mistaken impression is so
prevalent, that many professional literary people avoid any vigorous
exercise for fear that it will be a drain upon their whole system,
and thus upon their capacity for brain-work. The truth is that such
complete physical inertness has the effect of clogging the action of
the blood, of retaining the impurities of the system, and of eventually
bringing about a host of small nervous disorders that induce in turn
mental anxiety—the worst possible drain upon the nervous organisation.
When one of these people, after a year of sick-headache and dyspepsia,
comes to realise that healthy nerves cannot exist without general
physical health and activity, he joins a gymnasium, strains his
long-unused muscles on bars and ropes, or by lifting heavy weights. The
result usually is that the muscles, so long unaccustomed to use, cannot
withstand the sudden strain imposed upon them, and the would-be athlete
retires with some severe or perhaps fatal injury.
But occasionally he finds some especial gymnastic exercise suited
to him, and weathers the first ordeal. He persists bravely, and is
astonished to find that his digestion improves, his weight increases,
and his mind becomes clear and brighter. He exercises systematically,
and cultivates a few special muscles, perhaps those of the shoulder,
to the hindrance of the complex muscles of the neck and throat; or
perhaps those of the back and groin, as in rowing, to the detriment
of chest, muscle, and development; and although his condition is
greatly improved, he is apt to become wearied from a lack of physical
exhilaration, or a lack of that sweetening of mental enjoyment which
gives cycling such a lasting charm. If a man has no heart in his
exercise, he will not persist in it long enough to get its finest
benefits.
In the gentle swinging motion above the wheel, there is nothing to
disturb the muscular or nervous system once accustomed to it; indeed,
it is the experience of most cyclists that the motion is at first
tranquillising to the nerves, and eventually becomes a refreshing
stimulus. The man who goes through ten hours’ daily mental fret
and worry, will in an hour of pleasant road-riding, in the fresh
sweet-scented country, throw off all its ill effects, and prepare
himself for the effectual accomplishment of another day’s brain-work.
The steady and active employment of all the muscles, until they are
well heated and healthily tired, clears the blood from the brain,
sharpens the appetite, and insures a night’s refreshing sleep.
In propelling the wheel, all the flexor and extensor muscles of the
legs are in active motion; while in balancing, the smaller muscles
of the legs and feet and the prominent ones of the groin and thighs
are brought into play. The wrist and arms are employed in steering;
while the whole of the back, neck, and throat muscles are used in
pulling up on the handles in a spurt. Thus the exertion is distributed
more thoroughly over the whole body than in any other exercise. A
tired feeling in any one part of the body is generally occasioned by
a weakness caused by former disuse of the muscles located there, and
this disappears as the rider becomes habituated to the new motions of
the wheel. With an experienced cyclist, the sensation of fatigue does
not develop itself prominently in any one part of the body, but is so
evenly adjusted as to be hardly noticeable.
The wretched habit of cyclists riding with the body inclined forward
has produced an habitual bent attitude with several riders, and
gives rise to a prejudice against the sport as producing a ‘bicycle
back.’ Nearly all oarsmen have this form of back; it has not proved
detrimental, but it is ungainly, and the methods by which it is
acquired on a bicycle are entirely unnecessary. Erect riding is more
graceful, it develops the chest, and adds an exercise to the muscles of
the throat and chest that rowing does not.
The exposure to out-of-door air, the constant employment of the mind by
the delight of changing scenery or agreeable companionship, add their
contribution, and make cycling, to those who have tried practically
every other sport, the most enjoyable, healthful, useful exercise ever
known. Most cyclers become sound, well-made, evenly balanced, healthy
men, and bid fair to leave to their descendants some such heritage of
health and vigour as descended from the hardy old Fathers to the men
who have made this country what it is.