1913 Suffrage Parade Photo - Two Bikes

At first I didn't see any bikes, but eventually I saw one with a fellow next to a car on the left. With a hat - a police officer? Perhaps. Then I noticed the bicycle leaning against a tree on the right. Is it with the photographer? Probably not, but it seems odd for it just to be there, waiting to be stolen. Or 100 years ago there was no bike theft? There certainly were bike locks then, but I don't see one here.



From the Library of Congress Bain Collection (via Flickr); more information is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain.

Good Balance - Egyptian Style

I have some bicycle photos in my Flickr sets; here I have (just barely) caught a fellow riding with a few hundred pita breads on a rack balanced on his head. This is common on the streets of Cairo. Occasionally one or two will fall off in the wind but I never saw a rider drop an entire rack.

Taken from inside a taxi. The non-working meter is visible.

Capital Bikeshare Usage - Online Real Time Map

This map displays usage of Rideshare bikes in the DC area in real time.

Not so much usage yet, even in good weather, it seems. Still I have seen four or five being ridden, which seems pretty good since they are so new.

The Washington Post has this article on the topic.

"Bicycle Chic" - NYTimes

NY Times article that I missed covers the fashion aspects of increasing amount of cycling in NYC. Well, maybe.

More Riders, Fewer Crashes

This article suggests that when bike ridership increases, fewer crashes result (for the cyclists . . . ).

The rationale is that as there are more cyclists, motorists realize that they must adapt to their presence and (in effect) drive more safely (relative to the cyclists, anyway).

But when there are a lot of bicyclists on the road, according to this theory, drivers take notice. They become more attentive, slow down, pass more cautiously, double-check their blind spots, expect the unexpected. They sense that the road has become a more complicated place, and adjust their behavior accordingly. As a result, the road becomes safer, presumably for everyone.

Bicycle Baggage Bill(s)

It seems than in the late 1897s, cyclists lobbied their state legislatures to get laws that would allow them to take their bicycles on trains as luggage for now cost - apparently railroad companies were charging almost as much for the bike to ride as the passenger.This article from the Louisville Bicycle Club describes the situation in Kentucky, for example~

Cyclists used to get around the worst stretches of country road by getting on a train, and trains seem to have been plentiful in the late 19th century. But some of the railroads levied a heavy surcharge for taking bicycles on board, and cyclists resented it bitterly. A Louisville group headed for the Kentucky Division’s annual meet in Cynthiana in 1897 encountered heavy rain at Versailles, and proposed taking the train on to Lexington where they’d stop for the night. The fare on the Southern Railroad was 36 cents. But it was another 25 cents for each bike. And as they stood there considering, a salesman took two 75-pound trunks on free. They rode on through the rain and mud rather than knuckle under to slimeball railroads. The next year’s session of the legislature passed a “baggage bill,” making bikes free baggage. Gov. William O. Bradley, Kentucky’s first Republican governor, vetoed it.

"Whirls of the Wheel" (1897)

In the 1890s many newspapers had coverage of cycling in the sports section as well as elsewhere, since much of what was discussed wasn't that sporty (that is, having to do with competition - but that's true today, I suppose).

Here is an example, a column titled "Whirls of the Wheel" in the Scranton Tribune of 1897.

One finds a laundry list of items:

The French Touring club has 50,000 members.

A low gear is a slow gear. A high gear is a fly gear.

Harry Tyler denies that he is about to resume racing.

Jay Eaton will follow the southern bicycle circuit from Nashville.

There is a rumor that J. V. Parsons has married an actress in Melbourne.

When buying a bicycle it is a good thing not to forget to take a receipted bill.

A bill for the taxation of bicycles has been defeated in the Vermont legislature.

The Louisville Track association is planning a match race between Bald and Kimble.

The bicycle has developed another deadly characteristic. An Ohio man has killed his wife by sand-bagging her with a bicycle tire.

During the week ending April 1, 1,359 new members joined the League of American Wheelmen, making a total membership of 60,029.

A visit to a second-hand bicycle shop is the best thing in the world for a man who wants to study the advances made in blcycle construction.

Tom Winder, the around-the-coast cyclist, is to repeat his trip this year. This time he will do it in search of new material for his course of lectures.

A bill has been introduced in the New York legislature for the prohibiting of the propulsion of baby carriages on the cycle paths of that state outside of the cities.

Jacquelin, the speedy Frenchman, has asked for a two weeks' furlough from army service, so he may compete in the Grand Prix, tho greatest race of the year in France.

The duty imposed by the German government on American made bicycles is only $1, and in consequence large numbers are sold there. Evidently the German finds no trichinae on the American bicycle.

John V. Clendenning, of Louisville, the new treasurer of the League of American Wheelmen, has been given a surprise. The executive committee has named a New York bank as the repository of league funds.

Five months ago A. P. Black, of Brooklyn, was run over by a truck while riding his wheel and injured, so badly that he has been confined in a hospital over since. Through the League of American Wheelmen he has brought suit for $10,000 against the owner of the truck.

This is the way the states stand on the bicycle baggage bill question. For Arizona, California, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina 8. Against Kansas 1. Doubtful-Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan-3. Non-commtttal all the others.

What, one wonders, was the "bicycle baggage bill" being considered before Congress???