When the first diamond frame bicycles became popular in the 1890s they were often called "wheels" - the national cycling association was called the "League of American Wheelmen." We have moved from "wheels" to "bikes," but the bicycles have remained remarkably the same over more than 100 years - elegant in their efficiency and simplicity. And many of the issues that we think are new? They were around then too.
Bikes can serve as a drying rack, but leaving this much stuff in a public parking area is an interesting notion
Also, the part where he changed his clothes made an impression on the folks managing the parking area - I asked. They of course have no guidance on what to tell such people. "Hey mister, change your clothes in privacy!" I do give him credit for having arrived even earlier than I did (this was the only bike there when I got to the park) and he tucked it back out of sight of the street at least.
The saying that when you go to a baseball game you never know what you will see is usually understood to pertain to the play on the field. Ha ha - small joke, sure.
Part of the trail along Four Mile Run that I commute on has been closed requiring a detour. Finally the trail is open. It is somewhat odd since the barriers and signs that had closed off a portion of the trail have been removed but otherwise there is signage suggesting the detour is still in effect.
As is usually the case, since they replaced the old asphalt trail with new asphalt, the new trail is easily 18-24 inches wider than what was there before. It is crazy better than the Mount Vernon Trail that it leads to, for example.
HISTORICAL AND HUMOROUS SKETCHES
OF THE
DONKEY, HORSE AND BICYCLE.
THE BICYCLE VIEWED FROM FOUR STANDPOINTS :
ANATOMICAL, PHISIOLOGICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL,
AND FINANCIALLY.
ALSO AN ALLEGORY ON THE BICYCLE ROAD TO HELL.
THE VEIL OF VICES STRIPPED.
WITH NUMEROUS ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES
OF BYGONE DAYS.
By Dr. C: E. NASH,
LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
Dr. Nash published this book himself. He also made sure it was deposited for copyright registration at the Library of Congress. What was he trying to do with this book?
We would not undertake to say but that some of the purest and best class, of women are riding bicycles ; some of the most cultured and refined ladies are indulging in what they consider a refining exercise. Their endorsement has led to untold liberties, their sanction to immoralities of which they are ignorant. A sanction of an evil by the good gives double force to the evil. The motive for writing this book is to try to improve the morals and manners of those who stand in the way of good manners and right living, not by a progressive but a retrogressive movement.
Oh. Well.
The guy is a bigot, and he attacks more than cyclists. Not particularly humorous - pretty nasty. Ugh!
Tweet shows Four Mile Run as it was during my afternoon commute
The Washington Post called it a "heavy summer rain event" that was "very strange." Perhaps not the most sensible day to commute by bike? Where did I put my common sense?
Yeah well.
For one thing, in the morning there was no rain at all - the rain was only going to show up later in the day. It is easier to deal with any rain, including heavy rain, if it is only on the way home. Even if the stuff in my Timbuk2 bag got wet on the way home (although it didn't) it's no big deal once I'm home. Also, I have done this commute for a long time and I have a good sense of where the problem areas might be in different kinds of weather. I had decided that aside from getting pretty wet, there were few serious risks. I didn't ride down Independence Avenue but rather more slowly through the Capitol grounds and down the National Mall. Once I get past the Jefferson Monument to the 14th Street bridge I am on trails the whole way home (for about seven miles). There are parts of the trail that can flood, but there are ways around those spots.
It was 70-some degrees (ie, around 20 C) but I decided to wear a rain slicker. I wore a thin wool t-shirt under it. Of course, I was soaked after riding 10 miles, but I was neither cold nor hot.
The main problem is having water mixed with sweat (or who knows what) run into my eyes that then irritates them. It is kind of hard to ride with your eyes closed. I have this cap-thing I wear under my helmet (see below) that has a bill which is usually great but it failed with this amount of rain and my eyes got pretty irritated; I had to stop several times as a result.
My main concession to common sense in this weather is to ride at a conservative pace - it is easy to misread what you are seeing with water accumulating in unusual ways and it is better to ride into trouble at a moderate speed than while riding as fast as possible.
One aspect of being out in the rain in weather like this is how striking it is how little people driving cars are thinking about how unusual the weather is or are making the slightest adjustments to it. A modern car, with radio (or whatever) on, windows shut, AC turned up, isolates the driver a significant amount (says the cyclist). I could give examples but I am suddenly bored by this subject.
Libraries sometimes have in their collections brochures that are treated like a book. This is such an example - the University of Delaware had digitized this "book" that is a 12 page brochure from the Cleveland Bicycle Company, published in 1896. It is available from the HathiTrust digital library consortium web site in full. I found the cover the most amusing; the remainder is not so clever (and one is reminded of certain kinds of unfortunate default racism of earlier times).
It seems an odd marketing approach in the America of 1896 to try to tie cycling to Shakespeare.
Title-The Great Escape bike sign, Route 29
Contributor Names-Margolies, John, photographer
Created / Published-1988.
Subject Headings
- Signs (Notices)--1980-1990
- United States--South Carolina--Spartanburg
Format Headings
Slides--1980-1990.--Color
Genre-Slides--1980-1990.--Color
Notes
- Title, date and keywords based on information provided by the photographer.
- Margolies category: Main Street signs.
- Purchase; John Margolies 2008 (DLC/PP-2008:109-4).
- Credit line: John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
- Forms part of: John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008).
Medium-1 photograph : color transparency ; 35 mm (slide format).
Call Number/Physical Location-LC-MA05- 1777 [P&P]
Source Collection-Margolies, John John - Margolies Roadside America photograph archive
Repository-Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id-mrg 01777 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/mrg.01777
Library of Congress Control Number-2017703891
Reproduction Number-LC-DIG-mrg-01777 (digital file from original color transparency)
Rights Advisory
No known restrictions on publication. For more information, see "John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive - Rights and Restrictions Information" www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/723_marg.html
Online Format-image
Description-1 photograph : color transparency ; 35 mm (slide format).
LCCN Permalink-lccn.loc.gov/2017703891
This article has a photograph of the building along with the bike-sign on top.
Riders identified are Tillie Anderson (who today seems the best known of these riders, with an entry in wikipedia), Clara Drehmel, Lissette (last name not given, identified as "Mlle. Lissette" who was a French rider), Lizzie Claw.
This newspaper often tried to appeal to what one could consider a prurient interest - here, the notion of the women racers "stripping" in order to race (which is demonstrated in a sequence of photos on the page).
Above is part of the multi-use trail near my house, that runs next to a steam called "Lucky Run." Streams in this part of the world are often called a "run" (for running downhill, I guess). The stream is the right.
Riding home from work a while ago, I came across a private company with road type equipment applying these nice new painted yellow lines the trail. A worker encouraged me to avoid riding through the fresh paint. Yes . . . the trail has been here all the 25+ years I have lived here - the previous yellow lines had faded into oblivion but apparently someone decided to spend a few dollars to freshen that aspect up.
I have no problem with spending money on the trail - far from it. However as money to spend on this trail, and most others I see, applying yellow lines seems far less useful than doing some maintenance. As you can see in the photo, there are cracks in the asphalt. It is possible to apply some glop (sealant) on those that keeps water from building up below, then freezing and expanding and creating bigger raised cracks, which are prevalent elsewhere along this trail. If such raised cracks appear, they can be ground down and then sealed. (This was done about five or so years ago on the Mount Vernon Trail at some point when the National Park Service must have been better funded - it greatly improved the trail.)
I don't see the need for the yellow stripes on a trail like this, really. This is not a little roadway. The most important thing for all trail users is to apply common sense in their use of the trail.
Who yields to whom? An Arlington County sign with different users
As it happens, this particular Arlington County sign is not from near my house but elsewhere on the trail network. Arguably these are becoming less common because horses on County trails are almost nonexistent (at least around this southern part of the County). While intuitively it makes sense that people on wheels (cyclists and also skaters) yield to foot traffic (here for some reason hikers, not simply people walking) I suspect all that is meant by that is that cyclists aren't to force walkers off the trail from behind. I am a bit suspect of the Virginia use of the word "yield" in such laws since all that motorists have to do for pedestrians (or cyclists, by the way) in a crosswalk is "yield" while in DC the motorist must stop. Hmm.
Effectively part of the Four Mile Run trail with a dollop of asphalt for fun
Meanwhile elsewhere on the local trail system a company doing some road resurfacing left a six inch tall pile of asphalt on the small sidewalk that in this particular location connects to wider segments of the local multi-use trail network (and is reasonably heavily used, in fact).. Thank God no one has had the idea to put a yellow link down the middle of this. This is a location where most people thankfully do apply common sense; for example, I usually stop my bike if another bike is coming - it is too narrow for two oncoming bikes to get by one another without some avoidable risk. Or sometimes the oncoming cyclists will stop first. The asphalt, already here for about five days, just adds to the fun.
The presentation in the print edition of the Post was a little more easy to digest than the online version - online the "trends" that are to the right are more difficult to connect with the "turning points" that are to the left (assuming I am understanding the approach correctly).
It may or may not be that the people who prepared this knew much about the subject, but the emphasis on "firsts" means that the main trends are obscured. The Rover of 1885 is not that significant itself but rather as an early example of a bike that is more recognizably similar to a modern bicycle and the kind of bike that led in the U.S. to what was generally considered a "bicycle craze" in the 1890s. The 1890s bike craze itself is not mentioned. However the authors get it right when they characterize the following decade in the U.S. as "the automobile rises, the bicycle falls." It would have been good to mention however that the League of American Wheelmen along with the bicycle industry of the 1890s pioneered the "good roads" movement that gave way to advocacy for highways and so on for motorists.
A cyclist and his typical bike of the 1890s that is much similar to a modern bicycle
One of the authors is named Pope but amazingly (or is it ironically) there is no mention of Colonel Albert Pope, the most well known manufacturer of bicycles in the 1890s who then moved on to try to succeed as a maker of automobiles (which didn't go so well). His "Columbia" brand for bicycles in particular still exists; the company claims some derivative connection to the original Pope Manufacturing Company.
An ad in an 1890 booklet for Columbia bicycles manufactured by Pope's company
The most surprising omission is the development of well-organized and reasonably funded bike share systems in North America in the 21st century, following their introduction elsewhere in the world. Washington's Capital Bikeshare is a leader in this area, in fact.
This can be a complicated spot for cyclists and pedestrians to negotiate when several come together at once going in several directions. As part of a project to improve the area along the nearby stream, the asphalt was completely redone here.
I was glad to see that a segment of fence was moved so that it was no longer aligned with the concrete walkway. Previously when riding towards the concrete walkway from the asphalt while turning to the right the end of the steel fence could be something a rider could end up crashing into if anything went wrong. That risk is now reduced - good!
Fence has been moved away from concrete walkway
Oddly though gentle curve of the asphalt edge along the right is straightened out for about the last two feet. A reasonable principle of road design is that the curve of the roadway should be consistent and predictable - it seems neither of those that it straightens out. Now of course this is in plain sight, but when riding and paying attention an oncoming bicycle and possibly walkers or runners, it is better if the edge of the path is laid out predictably, not oddly.
It almost certainly looks like a small thing, but over almost twenty years of commuting and other riding, it is just this kind of thing that I have negotiated poorly, leading to dumb falling accidents. Now the asphalt part of the intersection is much wider, but when turning to the right the concrete walkway is just the same relatively narrow width as it was before and a rider will naturally gravitate as far as possible to the right while making the turn when there is an oncoming bicycle.
Asphalt curves to right but straightens last two feet or so for no obvious (good) reason
It's great that there is more asphalt to help reduce some of the difficulty navigating this intersection and that the fence was moved, but the one detail could have been better. Well, in my view anyway.
Phil Gaimon is a retired pro road cyclist. In general I don't read about current pro road racing any more (for example, it has been years since I killed time looking at VeloNews online) but I read Gaimon's "Pro Cycling on $10 a Day" and liked that, so I thought I would give this a try.
This turns out to be a collection of Gaimon's Q&A columns published in VeloNews. This are arranged in the book over the years when he was riding and writing them, which means his experience and some of his views expressed evolved over time.
The sub-title is "Deep Thoughts and Unreliable Advice from America's Foremost Cycling Sage" - this gives you a sense of his occasionally ironic and mostly sarcastic and self-deprecating tone.
One doesn't really know the nature of the typical questions he received but many he chose to answer are from aspiring racers, which I suppose isn't that surprising, and occasionally the answers he gives might be useful to those folks. From a general reader's perspective the Q&A approach means the flow is mostly random in terms of topics covered, but the entertainment value makes up for that I guess.
Gaimon writes well in terms of producing something that is amusing and engaging and also (this I consider a good thing) a quick read. But if you aren't at least somewhat interested in modern bicycle road racing, there is no point in picking it up much less trying to read it.
During the height of Lance Armstrong's successful run of Tour de France victories, I began to watch a some professional bicycle racing on TV and the Internet. I even watched a criterium in Arlington where I live in person. But once the doping aspect became more obvious, I lost interest in current bicycle racing. I guess I couldn't tell you the name of three people who will be racing in the Tour de France this year, as one example of my lack of present interest.
I am still interested in cycling generally however, even if my main association is as a bicycle commuter 20 miles each workday. And I find that I still like reading about older bicycle racing if the book is well written - pretty much when Greg LeMond is done and Lance gets starts is when I lose interest.
William Fotheringham, a British author, has written a number of biographies of 20th century cycling figures, including Tom Simpson, Fausto Coppi, Luis Ocana, and others. I thought I would try this one about Merckx who is arguably the greatest all around road cyclist-racer of all time. I found it a very enjoyable read.
Merckx was nicknamed "The Cannibal" and was famous for his unrelenting approach to bicycle racing. Some of the time it would have seemed more sensible in terms of preserving himself long-term or short-term (or both) to have eased back in some situations, but he almost never employed any strategy other than to attack, to push for the lead, to strive to put himself out in front in order to win the sooner the better.
As a biography, the author works to associate some of Merckx's personal story and background with this unrelenting approach, but this isn't don't so heavily as to be annoying. Fotheringham has a good approach to relating accounts of the different road races described. As a sign of my interest, I read this from cover to cover without some long pause, distracted by some other book(s) in my "to read" pile.
I have read enough before about bicycle racing after WWII to the end of the 20th century that many of Merckx's competitors described in the book were familiar to me, but enough detail about them was supplied that it wasn't necessary in order to enjoy the book.
YouTube videos of documentaries referenced in the book:
Merckx is featured but did not win this race
A biographical documentary about Merckx covering the 1973 racing season
Illustration from "Bicycle owner's complete handbook of repair and maintenance," 1953
Title: Bicycle owner's complete handbook of repair and maintenance.
Main Author: Kraynick, Steve, 1911-
Language(s): English
Published: Los Angeles F.Clymer [1953?]
Subjects: Bicycles > Maintenance and repair.
Physical Description: 126 p. illus. 22 cm. hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015000490691?urlappend=%3Bseq=46
The illustration of the winking cyclist above, showing his "good pedaling position," comes courtesy of the New Departure division of General Motors - that seemed surprising for this 1953 book. So time for a little research. Aha, here is a bit of history of New Departure.
Brief video history of New Departure manufacturing company which developed a popular version of the coaster brake (known as the New Departure Coaster Brake) as well as ball bearings and other machined parts for different finished products. They were acquired by General Motors but continued with the "New Departure" name, and to make bicycle coaster brakes. The New Departure coaster brake dates to 1898!
In Washington, a city of few hills and with asphalt streets and but little congestion, the messenger boy prefers to ride a bicycle to the more ancient but slower method of walking. The bicycle boy, if he is working by the "piece," of course, makes more money than his rival on foot, so that the spirit of emulation drives many messengers to save enough money to purchase wheels, so consequently they have no money to spend on novels.
From an odd article about what messengers in Washington DC read.
The Library of Congress has a collection that was given to the Library for which rights were also given, the U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection. This includes photographs from the 1960s and 1970s.
This odd example apparently was a possibility to go with a magazine story about cycling. I was surprised to see the "Hertz Rent-a-Bike" sign on the door. I had never heard of such a thing. It does not appear as convenient as Capital Bikeshare!
Title-Bike story [Bicycle rental store, District Hardware]
Contributor Names Leffler, Warren K., photographer
Created / Published-1971.
Format Headings-Film negatives--1970-1980.
Genre-Film negatives--1970-1980
Notes
- Title and date from log book.
- Contact sheet available for reference purposes: USN&WR COLL
- Job no. 25159-A, frame 17/17A.
- Forms part of: U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection. Medium 1 photograph : negative; film width 35mm (roll format)
Call Number/Physical Location LC-U9-25159-A- 17/17A [P&P]
Source Collection U.S. News & World Report magazine photograph collection (Library of Congress)
Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Rights Advisory No known restrictions on LCCN Permalink lccn.loc.gov/2017646391
This was something I found at my local public library.
This is a publication of Roadcycling UK which tells you several things immediately - the focus is almost entirely on road cycling (and not any other kind of cycling) and it is written with UK cycling history featured heavily.
There are some infographics at the beginning about "bike tech" that are useful in the way I would think of being a "guide to cycling" but after that it is largely about different kinds of professional racing and the history of some of the most famous races, particularly (but not only) where there was exceptional performance of a British cyclist. If you aren't interested in professional racing there isn't much here of interest. At all.
I find it somewhat sad to see in print that with the disqualification of Armstrong, once again Greg LeMond is the only American to have won the Tour de France.
As a book for a public library in the US, I don't think this is a very good selection. Oh well.
Archie Roosevelt, son of the then-president, Theodore Roosevelt, on a bicycle at the White House. The bike is too large for him.
Title-Archie Roosevelt on a bicycle
Contributor Names-Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer
Created / Published-c1902 June 17.
Format Headings
Photographic prints--1900-1910.
Portrait photographs--1900-1910.
Notes
- H19130 U.S. Copyright Office.
- Title and other information transcribed from caption card and item.
- Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).
- Formerly in LOT 4273.
- Multiple copies of print found.
Medium-1 photographic print.
Source Collection-Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952. Portraits
Repository-Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Digital Id-cph 3a19334 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a19334
Reproduction Number-LC-USZ62-17136 (b&w film copy neg.)
Rights Advisory-No known restrictions on publication.
LCCN Permalink-https://lccn.loc.gov/2001703918
Something completely different
The Nationals' Ball Park has a "Presidents' Race" of the racing presidents that includes Teddy Roosevelt - who never won a race until 2012. Here the presidents raced using local Capital Bikeshare bikes.
The portrait of Archie Roosevelt was taken by this photographer, who posed dressed in a man in this self-portrait with a high-wheel bicycle
Title-[Frances Benjamin Johnston, full-length self-portrait dressed as a man with false moustache, posed with bicycle, facing left]
Contributor Name-Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer
Created / Published-[between 1890 and 1900]
Subject Headings
- Johnston, Frances Benjamin,--1864-1952
- Cross dressing--1890-1900
- Bicycles--1890-1900
Format Headings
Albumen prints--1890-1900.
Portrait photographs--1890-1900.
Self-portraits--1890-1900.
Notes
- Title devised by Library staff.
- Forms part of: Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).
- Exhibited: "Who's Afraid of Women Photographers?" at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France, Oct. 2015-Jan. 2016.
Medium-1 photographic print mounted on layered paper board : albumen ; photo 20.9 x 14.9 cm, on mount 25.3 x 20.3 cm.
Call Number/Physical Location-LOT 11734-3 [item] [P&P]
Repository-Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Digital Id-ppmsc 04884 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.04884
cph 3b29741 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b29741
Library of Congress Control Number
2001697163
Reproduction Number
LC-DIG-ppmsc-04884 (digital file from original) LC-USZ62-83111 (b&w film copy neg.)
Rights Advisory
No known restrictions on publication.
LCCN Permalink
https://lccn.loc.gov/2001697163
ofo bikes in New York City, not for use but for a press event (it seems)
Here is the press release about "UNDP [United Nations Development Programme], Chinese bike-sharing start-up ofo join forces to support innovative solutions to climate change challenges."
An article in the Economist ("The Return of Pedal Power...") last week described a new (to me at least, but not entirely new it seems) bike share system that frees users from having to get or leave the bikes from fixed locking stations, rather a rider gets to a destination and locks the bike wherever, then other users can find it there and access it for their use with a smartphone app.
The ofo system is in use in China and Singapore and also San Francisco - in SF it is known as BlueGoGo. Not surprisingly there is a web site.
The Bluegogo Medium channel has a step-by-step description of the process for San Francisco usage. However the SF model, apparently reflecting a lack of enthusiasm for the "leave your bike any old place" model in a US city, does have docking stations - "When you finish the ride, easily return your bluegogo bike to any of the stations (list of bluegogo stations can be found within the app or here) and lock it." Except the link to a map for the stations is 404. Not very encouraging.
U.S. video of how to use BlueGoGo bikeshare bikes, which does not mention use of locking stations
Generic ofo instructions for accessing a bike in China without a docking station
![Bike story [Bicycle rental store, District Hardware]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4193/33834706174_3da524a16b.jpg)
