La Reine de la Route

By Salle189924 chapters2 imagesFrench

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Contents

• AVANT-PROPOS (opens in a new tab)

  Dr Salle, an army medical officer, states his aim of giving officers and amateur cyclists a practical, non-technical grounding in the physiology of cycling, citing the 1895 ministerial order encouraging officers to ride and rising bicycle registrations (203,026 in 1894 to 329,816 in 1896). He outlines the book's plan: separate chapters on the rider, the machine, riding position, training, and hygiene.
• I. - Le cavalier. (opens in a new tab)

  Chapter opener quoting Professor Tissié's aphorism on walking with the muscles, running with the lungs, and finishing with the brain, introducing cycling physiology as a young field being studied by Professor Marey at the Parc-des-Princes physiological station.
• I. Du travail musculaire (opens in a new tab)

  Explains that pedalling relies chiefly on the gluteal and quadriceps extensor muscles to drive the crank, while the weak, undertrained hamstring flexors struggle on the pedal's upstroke, and covers the trunk muscles' balancing role and the pectorals' role in gripping the handlebar. Closes by defining muscular fatigue as a build-up of nitrogenous waste (urea, uric acid) and explaining sweating as the skin's mechanism for eliminating heat from muscular combustion.
• II. De la respiration (opens in a new tab)

  Argues cyclists should breathe through the nose rather than the mouth so the air is warmed, humidified and filtered, and defines breathlessness (essoufflement) as carbon-dioxide intoxication of the blood, cataloguing its three escalating stages from a flushed face and ringing ears to fainting and possible cardiac collapse.
• III. De la circulation (opens in a new tab)

  Describes how excessive effort raises pressure in the heart's right ventricle and accelerates its rhythm, citing a case of 260 pulse-beats per minute recorded after a fast 60km ride, and stresses that only a sound, well-trained heart can withstand this strain.
• IV. Du système nerveux (opens in a new tab)

  Warns against relying on stimulants: kola gives a brief muscular lift but Dr Guillemet's 1897 dynamometer studies showed it actually reduces measured strength, while alcohol (beer, absinthe, wine, spirits) is condemned as a poison to be avoided except as a last resort in the closing kilometres of a long ride.
• II. - La monture. (opens in a new tab)

  Chapter opener arguing that manufacturers, chasing speed and lightness, have stripped useful fittings like brakes and mudguards from the bicycle, and calls for a rational machine built to the individual rider's weight and size, citing physiologists Marey, Bouny, Bourlet, Guye and Perrache, rather than one bought off the shelf.
• A) Atténuation des vibrations (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends a heavy, rigid frame (14–16kg) over an ultralight one, since weight and rigidity absorb road shock better than thin tubing, and large-calibre (45–50mm) beaded tyres such as the Michelin, pumped hard on smooth roads and softer on rough ones, over wired-on types like the Dunlop.
• B) Douceur au roulement (opens in a new tab)

  Gives Dr Chenantais's rule for crank length (about one-tenth of the rider's height, roughly 17.5cm on average) and a recommended gear development of 4.60–5.75m; advises adjusting the gear via a larger rear sprocket rather than a smaller chainring, and favours double-roller chains over single-roller or flat chains for smoother, more even running.
• C) Éléments de la position du cavalier (opens in a new tab)

  Covers frame and wheel sizing by rider height (65–80cm wheels) and surveys named saddle models on the market, the beakless 'Papillon', the pneumatic-cushioned 'l'Inoffensive', the fixed-cushion 'Sâr' and 'Touriste', the metal 'Christy' and the mobile-cushion 'l'Oscillante', judging the 'Touriste' and 'l'Oscillante' the best available; also covers cork handlebar grips set level with the saddle.
• D) Accessoires indispensables (opens in a new tab)

  Argues against the fashion for omitting the brake to save weight, recommending rear-hub or crank-axle brakes (the Dorigny, Juhel and Spencer designs) over front-wheel brakes, which risk pitching the rider over the bars, and endorses toe-clips for keeping the foot correctly placed on the pedal.
• E) Machine rationnelle (opens in a new tab)

  Summarises the seven requirements of a 'rational' bicycle: a crank length and gear development matched to the rider, a solid frame, a wide hygienic saddle, an effective brake, thick puncture-resistant tyres, and enough overall weight to guarantee rigidity.
• III. - En selle. (opens in a new tab)

  Chapter opener quoting Dr Bouloumié's comparison that a touring cyclist should no more ride hunched like a racer than a horseman out for a ride should sit like a jockey, framing the chapter's coverage of bike-fit, posture and training.
• I. Réglage de la selle et du guidon (opens in a new tab)

  Gives the saddle-height formula (five-sixths of the inseam, measured tailor-fashion, so the heel just reaches the pedal at its lowest point), a plumb-line method for horizontal saddle position, and the rule that the saddle nose be tilted very slightly up to stop the rider sliding forward onto the perineum, plus advice to keep the handlebar low, close to the frame and level with the saddle.
• II. Position du cycliste sur sa machine (opens in a new tab)

  Prescribes sitting squarely on both ischial bones with an upright, relaxed torso rather than the racer's crouch, criticised as compressing the vena cava and straining the eyes, and describes correct knee and foot placement, with the ball of the foot over the pedal spindle.
• III. Entraînement (opens in a new tab)

  Defines training as the progressive, continuous adaptation of lungs, heart, muscles and stomach to effort, prescribing baths and cold showers for out-of-condition riders, gradually lengthening rides from one to four hours, and closing with detailed advice on the pedal stroke, including the 'ankle-play' technique and keeping the chain's upper run constantly taut.
• IV. - En avant. (opens in a new tab)

  Chapter opener distinguishing the amateur's pleasure-riding from the officer's duty-riding, and states the chapter's purpose of laying out the road-hygiene rules needed to avoid needless fatigue and illness.
• I. Hygiène générale du cycliste (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends carbohydrates and sugar over excess meat protein, citing Professor Chauveau's 1898 findings and a regimen of 400g bread plus 250g sugar a day taken in small doses every two hours, and warns against cold drinks and excess coffee; also covers skin hygiene, favouring wool clothing over linen and hot/cold baths, showers and friction massage.
• II. Hygiène spéciale de route (opens in a new tab)

  Sets out route hygiene from start to finish: checking and greasing the machine's nuts and bearings before departure; keeping heart rate and breathing as the guide to pace, with tables of speed reductions for gradients, headwinds and poor road surfaces (normal touring speed 15–18km/h); managing hunger and thirst with light food and small sips of unchilled water; and washing, changing socks and treating saddle soreness on arrival at the day's stop.
• III. Malaises et petits accidents (opens in a new tab)

  Covers minor ailments: muscular stiffness (courbature) treated with rest, baths and massage; overtraining (surmenage) with feverish symptoms treated with purgatives and caffeine; cramps in the calves, thighs or forearms linked to coffee, kola, alcohol, tobacco or tight garters; and cuts, to be washed with bichloride solution and dressed with a military-style antiseptic field kit.
• V. - Le pour et le contre. (opens in a new tab)

  Chapter opener quoting Baudry de Saunier that cycling's benefits are obvious to everyone while its dangers can be diagnosed only by a doctor, framing the chapter's balanced review of cycling's advantages and drawbacks.
• I. Avantages (opens in a new tab)

  Argues cycling exercises the whole body more evenly than fencing or riding, can help straighten scoliotic spines and even reduce hernias with a low machine and gradual training, and is especially beneficial for arthritic and gouty patients, Professor Robin found uric acid in the urine halved after a moderate ride, and for neurasthenic patients, for whom pedalling's automatic, distracting rhythm has a calming effect.
• II. Inconvénients (opens in a new tab)

  Surveys cycling's medical risks: acute cardiac dilation in riders with unsound hearts; nervous excitement in neuropathic riders; eye strain and retinal problems from wind-whipping, worse for myopic, hypermetropic and astigmatic riders; genito-urinary complaints from a badly shaped saddle (perineal congestion, urethritis, cystitis) and rare traumatic injuries from falling onto the saddle nose or frame tube; and ulnar-nerve palsy in the forearm from a badly angled handlebar.
• III. Rôle du médecin (opens in a new tab)

  Surveys the medical debate over cycling, Lucas-Championnière's 1894 conference, Dr Petit's report to the Académie de médecine, and sets out the doctor's role: a compulsory prior examination focused on the lungs (barring active tuberculosis) and heart (barring cardiac and arterial disease), with no upper age limit provided the rider is otherwise sound.