Cycling: The Badminton Library (1896)
Cite this book
Citation
The Earl of Albemarle and G. Lacy Hillier. Cycling: The Badminton Library (1896). 1896. cyclearchive.com, https://cyclearchive.com/books/the-badminton-library-cycling-1896/
Page numbers are pages of the PDF, which can differ from the numbers printed on the page.
Contents
- The Earl of Albemarle's survey of cycling as the newest Badminton sport: the numbers of riders, bicycles, tricycles and tandems, the Harrogate cycle Bath-chairs, falls and trick riders, wheel construction and gearing, the N.C.U. and the Cyclists' Touring Club, road repair, racing and the amateur question, electric carriages and the cycling press.
- The history of cycling from the hobby horse of Baron von Drais (1819) and the French velocipede brought to England, through Coventry's first makers, the 1870s road rides and the racing of H. L. Cortis, John Keen and G. Lacy Hillier, to the tricycle era, Major Edye's cycle drill and the royal handicaps before the Prince and Princess of Wales.
- Instruction in riding: learning on a Safety or at a riding school, balance and steering, mounting and dismounting, going down hill, position, handle-bar height, ankle action with diagrams of the pedal circle, saddle adjustment, and the treatment of falls and wounds with advice from Dr. G. B. Partridge.
- Racing and its effect on machine design, from Frederick Cooper and Thomas Humber's lightened racers; medical fitness, choosing and weighing a racing machine, position, and the running of a race meeting with judge, starter, timekeepers and the ring.
- Touring: joining the C.T.C., planning routes with maps and road books, daily distances, finding riding companions, a steady pace, what to pack and wear for a week's tour, forwarding luggage by parcel, the tools and repair outfit to carry, and checking the machine.
- Training for racing: the harsh old regime of the professional athlete and its drawbacks, modern moderate training, diet and drink, the novice's first path practice and spurting, advice on pace-making and over-competition, the rider's style and bad habits to avoid, and recovery after hard work.
- Cycling dress for men: woollen materials, jackets, knickerbockers, stockings, garters, caps and hats, and shoes with stout soles, then dress for ladies, the hygienic riding skirt and the 'Rational' knickerbocker costume, with underclothing and advice to go to a practical cycling tailor.
- Women's cycling from the first lady riders on tricycles in 1878 to the Safety: learning to ride, mounting and machine fittings, touring, the Lady Cyclists' Association founded in 1892 and its delegates accepted by the N.C.U., and the 'Rational' costume.
- What a good racing path needs (surface, banked corners, width, fencing) and a survey of tracks, including the Crystal Palace, Stamford Bridge, Cambridge, Surbiton, Paddington, Herne Hill and Bristol, with hints on laying a new permanent track.
- History of the N.C.U. from the Bicycle Union's founding in 1878, its constitution, the amateur question, rivalry with the C.T.C. and the Tricycle Union, road repair work, the amateur championships (with an account of a championship race at the Crystal Palace), and the Regulations for race meetings under N.C.U. rules.
- The C.T.C., founded 5 August 1878 as the Bicycle Touring Club by Bradford and other northern clubs under Stanley J. A. Cotterell, its troubles under successive secretaries, the 'Gazette', its consuls, hotel headquarters and chief consuls, the benefits of membership and its road-book and danger-board work.
- Part I on the mechanism: frame, steering head, forks, ball bearings, cranks, wheels, spokes and rims, gearing, chains, tires (including the Palmer) and their repair, home trainers, luggage, lamps and pumps. Part II on modern cycles: the Safety, the Ordinary, tricycles, sociables, tandems, the Velociman manumotor and the Otto bicycle.
- A medical chapter on whether cycling suits different riders: the exercise for the healthy, children, the middle-aged and old, women, invalids and the disabled, with notes on dress, food, drink, saddles and position, and the strain of racing.
- An addition bringing the book up to date: a model race-meeting programme, rules for Herne Hill pacing, tables of the amateur championships and challenge cups, road records (Land's End to John o' Groat's, London to Bath, Brighton and Edinburgh) and path records on bicycles, Safeties, tandems and tricycles.