Cycling for Old and Young
Cite this book
Citation
Adelpha. Cycling for Old and Young. 1896. cyclearchive.com, https://cyclearchive.com/books/cycling-for-old-and-young-adelpha/
Page numbers are pages of the PDF, which can differ from the numbers printed on the page.
Contents
- The writer directs attention to the model cyclists of the city and criticises, from a kindly motive, the careless riders, to bring the new art to a higher standard for the greater honour of women.
- Cycling as a health exercise: Dr E. B. Turner's view, quoted from the British Medical Journal, that the bicycle as a remedy for functional liver derangement surpasses calomel; the 'bilious' ailments of rich food, drink and too little open-air exercise, and cycling's effect on thinness and corpulence.
- Cycling as an adjunct to rest for brainworkers and those overworked or anxious; relief for anaemia of young girls, sick headache, neuralgia, hysteria, palpitation, insomnia and night cramp; a warning that the young and growing need caution, since girls have been broken down by riding too far too fast while unfit.
- The girls who adjust their skirts modestly before mounting, so that the folds fall equally at both sides, and who start and ride on with ease, without attracting unfavourable notice.
- Girls who fling themselves on the bicycle without adjusting their skirts wobble off, draw adverse criticism, and let the skirt flare like a windstorm; the faults can be corrected by studying and imitating the best riders, and by welcoming hints from a brother or well-wisher.
- Skirt length and width chosen for safety from the chain and wheel, not too long nor too short, with no clinging material and a chamois-fibre front lined with silk or linen; gaiters, hose and underskirts to match the costume in colour, since a clash of colours shows every fault; gaiter-form stockings; and sleeves unsewn at the seam so they do not quiver.
- Knee-breeches and knickerbockers: the garter worn above or below the knee, and the length and fullness of the knickerbockers chosen for the rider's legs rather than fashion, so that thick, slender or well-shaped limbs each look best; the advice to wear what is becoming, for fashion will follow.
- Whether men and women who begin cycling in middle life should do so: the answer is yes, in moderation, as a cure for nervous affections and the depression and infirmities of a sedentary life; the thin gain plumpness and the stout are reduced; the criticism of the bent-over riding stoop, quoting the Rev. Dr Clyner, and the advice that older riders sit erect.
- The bicycle as a remedy for the evils of town life: fresh air, a refreshing view of mountain or river, a friendly visit, and an old acquaintance met on the road; the young refreshed and the aged renewed, with few heart failures and apoplexies among riders; heavy riders encouraged to ride whatever their age or size.
- Whether young girls should go cycling far from home with a solitary escort, a family friend or a betrothed man; the writer answers no and urges brothers to act as protectors, and cites a Montreal Star account of the professional chaperon in New York, a footman or a lady of middle age in the select resorts.
- Miss Charlotte Smith, President of the American Women's Rescue League, holds that too much freedom in cycling leads to dangerous associations and swells the ranks of reckless girls, and appeals to all true women and clergymen to help denounce the evil.
- Cycling is injurious to boys and girls whose bones are not fully set, so parents should limit their riding while they are growing and keep small boys off adult machines, whose one-legged riding can deform the flexible young bones.
- How a rider's manner on the wheel reveals character: every man keeps his walking gait on the bicycle, the limper limps and the emphatic stroke shows the quick or slow walker; the imperious man expects others to get out of his way, the good-natured turns out for all, the reckless runs into people, the neat rider keeps his line, and the slouch wobbles over the road.
- Conclusion: cycling promotes health and should be practised in the autumn and even in winter; beginners should take a course of lessons from competent teachers at a cycling academy, since two or three lessons are not sufficient; touring cyclists can reach places a steamer or train passes by; the closing wish that the wheel reign long.