De la Physiologie du Membre Inférieur dans la Locomotion à Bicyclette

By Elisée Bouny18997 chapters8 imagesFrench

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Contents

• AVANT-PROPOS (opens in a new tab)

  The author, a pupil of the physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey, explains the thesis continues Marey's laboratory research into the muscular physiology of cycling, and thanks his hospital and anatomy teachers even though he does not intend to practice medicine himself.
• CHAPITRE PREMIER. Historique. (opens in a new tab)

  Reviews prior instrumented studies of the pedal stroke, from A. Lyman Scott's 1889 dynamometric pedal ("cyclograph") in Philadelphia through Maillard and Bardon's 1893 French patent to Marey's own 1895 air-transmission dynamometric pedals tested at the Parc des Princes and the Vélodrome d'Hiver, plus the amateur theoretical literature such as Perrache's "Homme de la Montagne" articles and Bourlet's treatise.
• CHAPITRE II. Analyse dynamométrique d'un coup de pédale. (opens in a new tab)

  Describes the experimental technique and presents the dynamometric force diagrams recorded from a cyclist's pedal stroke, measuring both the normal (perpendicular) force on the pedal and the sliding force parallel to it across a full crank revolution.
• CHAPITRE III. Analyse cinématique du coup de pédale. (opens in a new tab)

  Reconstructs the successive positions of the hip, knee and ankle joints throughout the pedal stroke from the recorded pedal-plane angles, fixing anatomical landmarks (greater trochanter, femoral condyle, external malleolus) to calculate thigh and leg segment lengths and joint angles.
• CHAPITRE IV. Essai d'une physiologie musculaire du coup de pédale. (opens in a new tab)

  Applies Marey's "successive measurements" method to the joint diagrams to infer which individual leg muscles are actively shortening, and therefore probably contracting, at each phase of the pedal stroke, comparing this indirect inference to direct myography.
• CONCLUSIONS (opens in a new tab)

  Argues that the apparently "contradictory" simultaneous action of antagonist leg muscles during pedaling is not a mechanical disadvantage but trades force for speed, and that the conventional forward-leaning riding position (torso about 15 degrees from vertical, seat set back) is physiologically justified because it keeps the hip and knee joints in moderate, mid-range flexion rather than near full extension.
• INDEX BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE (opens in a new tab)

  Lists sources including Scott's and Marey's dynamometric-pedal literature, Bourlet's Traité des Bicycles et Bicyclettes, Baudry de Saunier's cycling manuals, and the extensive Perrache/Chenantais/Vélocio debate on crank length and gearing published in Le Cycliste and the Revue mensuelle du Touring-Club de France.