To be a Russian Wheelwoman . . .

(Scroll down the above image if you wish to see text in original - lower right of page). Under "Wheelwomen in Europe" in the February 1901 issue of L.A.W. Magazine we read ~

In Russia everything is managed "by order of the czar," and cycling is no exception to the rule. Before a woman can possess a wheel she must obtain royal consent, and as this is granted quite sparingly there are but few wheelwomen in Russia.

Can this have really been true???