Vol 2, No 18
Cite this issue
Citation
The Bicycling World 2, no. 18 (1881). cyclearchive.com, https://cyclearchive.com/magazines/the-bicycling-world/vol2-18/
Page numbers are pages of the PDF, which can differ from the numbers printed on the page.
Articles in this issue
- The editor covers weather prospects for the cycling season, notes that lady contributors will mostly ride tricycles this year, and warns buyers to order machines promptly or wait weeks.
- An editorial compares bicycling with other common forms of physical exercise and argues that the combination of cardiovascular benefit, muscular development, and outdoor air makes cycling superior.
- The story of the first documented bicycle tour in America is told, tracing a pioneer cyclist's multi-day journey by wheel across New England roads in the late 1870s.
- A humorous anecdote describes a cyclist so cautious about street hazards that he walks his bicycle everywhere, illustrating the absurdity of excessive timidity on a machine designed for riding.
- An assessment of roads around Boston grading the major suburban routes by surface quality, grades, and suitability for different types of riders.
- A winter evening meditation imagines the return of warm weather and the open road, sustaining the off-season cyclist through the cold months.
- A Cyclist report from Lyons on the opening races at Perrache, giving the 4,200-metre bicycle race won by a Centaur from Coventry and the tricycle race, with the third race abandoned when the public invaded the track.
- A correspondent of the Wheel World complains that bicycle club dinners have become starchy affairs ruined by endless toasts and platitudinous speeches.
- Short pieces from Cycling attack bookmakers at bicycle meetings and report the Finchley Tricycle Club's annual meeting, its thirty members, and its talks with the London Tricycle Club.
- A comic account of a meeting of the Classic Club of Chelsea, with Mr. Deacon in the chair and Mr. Bernhardt, Mr. Kicker and Frank Bragg quarrelling over the colour of the club uniform.
- A letter to the President of the L.A.W. from Dieppe reports the 6 February 1881 Paris congress of twelve French clubs, which defined the amateur and formed the Union, and seeks reciprocal racing rights with American amateurs.
- A correspondent signing himself W. of London urges clubs to hold inter-club races, suggesting teams of three men from each club over ten miles and frequent club races to find the fastest riders.
- An archery editorial greets the first letter from Highland Park about the Eastern Archery Association's national contest at Brooklyn and imagines the gathering of the archers there.
- A correspondent argues against changing the established 1 to 9 manner of scoring in archery, holding that archery is not an exact science.
- A correspondent urges manufacturers to provide places in Boston where suburban clerks could leave a tricycle during the working day, so that more men could ride in to business.
- A discussion of what the word tricycle means, tracing the three-wheeled velocipede named by the French fifty years earlier and describing the original two-wheel-axle design with a tiller.
- A report on the Stanley Bicycle Club's annual show at Holborn Town Hall in London describes the machines exhibited, the novelties attracting attention, and the large and fashionable attendance.
- An advocate argues that the tricycle deserves more respect from serious cyclists, noting its advantages for older riders, ladies, and those who prefer stability over the challenge of balancing.
- Club news from around the country reports on indoor riding sessions, new members enrolled, and plans for the spring season from clubs in New England, New York, and the Midwest.
- The League of American Wheelmen's standing notice gives the fees, treasurer Hugh L. Willoughby at Saratoga Springs, corresponding secretary Albert S. Parsons at Cambridgeport, and how to obtain badges.
- A correspondent relays a letter from the Capital Bicycle Club of Washington, which gives up its bid to host the League Meet and prefers Boston to New York.