Russian Book from LC about Cycling (1895)

Sovremennyi velosiped (or Книга "Современный велосипед" 1895 года) from LC's collections was apparently one of the few General Collections items digitized by Google held at LC. It is an interesting book, although unfortunately the digitization by Google wasn't done particularly well. And it is entirely in Russian . . .



The cover shows a period side-by-side tandem bike.

Like most books of this period, even though it would seem very helpful to have lots of illustrations, there are rather few. Below is my favorite - since the Google image of these pages isn't good, I have done it over with both pages presented as a single image.



Below is an ad for a Russian bike dealer towards the end of the book. "Warehouse of American, English, and Austrian bikes and accessories."

"Artistic cycling" in Germany

YouTube video of Germans in competition for "artistic cycling" - from the Rachel Maddow MSNBC show. "Kunstrad" in German.

Wikipedia helpfully has an article about artistic cycling to provide some background and insights.

"Bike as Pragmatic Tool"

This blog entry, titled "InterBike's Pragmatic Bike Porn" has some Flickr photos and description of bikes suitable for hauling lots of stuff - and also a Hutchinson run-flat tire (filled with foam).

The front rack (basket?) on the Civia below could probably be added to any bike with bolt holes on the front fork. Unfortunately I don't have such a bike . . .

"3 Foot" Laws to Protect Cyclists

In Seattle I saw bumper stickers to give cyclists three feet of clearance when passing, but apparently it isn't the law in Washington or Oregon, both considered advanced in this area. (It is the law in Maryland, but not DC or Virginia.) 3feetplease.com is one of a number of sites advocating this law, although they seem heavily focused on selling jerseys to support their cause.

One problem seems to be that some see a contradiction between having laws allowing bicycles to use a full lane as needed and a three foot clearance requirement - see this article about Hawaii, for example. And what is the point of dedicated bike lanes if passing vehicles must clear bicycles in them by three feet - apparently motorists are expected to give three feet of clearance then too says this article.

Sign in Arlington VA reminds motorists that bicycles are entitled to the full lane - the bicycle "may use full lane" (or may not . . . ) ~

Not All Old Books Are Digitized!!

I have been reading Cold Beer and Crocodiles which is about a recent trip around the perimeter of Australia by bike. It mentions a trip by one Arthur Richardson in 1899 that was the first such bicycle endeavor, which Richardson then described in a book, Story of a Remarkable Ride. Alas few copies of this book seem to be in libraries - the Library of Congress catalog doesn't show LC having a copy - and none of the copies in Australia have yet been digitized.

A photo of Richardson on a bike is available, at least.

(Old) Cycling Photos from the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has a small number of photos of cycling interest available online, for example this one of Jackie Clark, a racer, in 1912.



If you go to the LoC "photostream" and search "cycling" they are easily enough found.

Another racer photo with the then-popular dead-on posed shot.



Some long distance racers in 1910 ~~~

Good long description of 19th century cycling in San Francisco

Blog entry describes cycling in California, particularly San Francisco during the 19th century. Lots of detail, quotes from interesting publication, and photographs.

Notes that the popularity of the bicycle depended on pneumatic tires which in turn required lots of rubber, much of which came from Belgian King Leopold's Congo and the Amazon, setting in motion much unpleasantness for the future. On the up side, the positive role of bicycling for women is briefly noted.