BICYCLING

The German agriculturist Karl von Drais is generally acknowledged as the "father of the bicycle." His idea for a wooden, two-wheeled, running machine, which he patented in 1818, was soon copied by inventors in America. In 1819, "hobbyhorses" made their appearance on the streets of Boston and New York, and laws were quickly promulgated to prohibit their use on sidewalks. The novelty of these cumbersome forms of locomotion soon wore off, until the inventive spirit of the Industrial Revolution sparked new ideas in transport, leading to three major boom periods for cycling in America.

The initial craze for cycling began in the 1860s with the invention of the velocipede, a cast-iron machine with pedal cranks attached to the front wheel. The development of this "boneshaker" created a new mode of transport and industry, fostering different forms of sporting and recreational activities. Although velocipedes were originally popularized in France, transatlantic trade ensured intense competition in its manufacture and marketing. The velocipede craze peaked in America around 1869, when nearly every major city built at least one rink for the machine. However, new patents and fierce rivalries for profits continued to drive improvements to the velocipede.

The Cycling "Craze"

The next boom period—the late 1870s, and early 1880s—saw the advent of the high-wheeler, also known as the "ordinary" or "penny farthing." The first ordinary appeared at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Pennsylvania. Entrepreneur colonel Albert Pope of Boston soon began manufacturing these novel machines and, with control of patents and aggressive marketing, he became known as the "father of American bicycling." Advertising posters for the Pope Manufacturing Company show that the sleek, superior, and relatively cheap high-wheeler quickly superseded the heavy and expensive velocipede. Many of the basic elements present in the modern bicycle, including ball bearings, tangent-spoked wheels, and hollow steel tubing, were introduced at this time. In 1878, the Boston Bicycle Club signaled the beginning of cycling clubs, introducing some people to a whole new way of life. Young males in particular enjoyed not only the inherent camaraderie of the group, but also the collective protection from unprovoked harassment aimed at lone cyclists.

The League of American Wheelmen (LAW), formed in 1880 with just forty-four members at Newport, Rhode Island, reflected this upsurge in popularity. Membership grew from almost 12,000 in 1894 to more than 141,000 cyclists in 1898. This group promoted numerous cycling activities, including touring and racing, and was a strong advocate for better roads and legislation. Most cycling enthusiasts were located in the eastern states, particularly Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Competitive cycling became highly popular and usually occurred in connection with other athletic sports. Considerable prize money was offered, generating a much-publicized and fierce quest for speed by "scorchers," growth in professionalism, and the consequent involvement of bookmakers. Racing became increasingly formalized, and, in 1886, the American Cyclists Union was created to help regulate the sport. A number of American track stars achieved notable success overseas, including Arthur Zimmerman, nicknamed "The Flying Yankee," and Major Taylor, an African American whose remarkable and controversial career was "marked by his speed, his skin color [in what was then a white-dominated sport], and his religious convictions" (Perry, p. 364).

Bicycle touring also became popular, with numerous trans-American trips and world tours undertaken by groups of cyclists as well as individuals. Noteworthy was American Thomas Stevens, who achieved the first overland circuit of the globe on a high-wheeler between 1884 and 1887. Women also rode remarkably long distances. For example, in July 1894, Mrs. E. Witchie became the first woman in the Midwest to cover a hundred miles in one day.

Cyclists met with considerable opposition, particularly by people using horse-drawn transport. Newspapers commented that it seemed as if all America were divided into two classes—those who rode bicycles and those who did not. The more individualistic activity of cycling diverted many young males from more established team sports and recreations. This new leisure pursuit, accompanied by a proliferation of bicycle-riding schools, marketing of cycling accessories, and publication of numerous books and magazines, thus presented a challenge to the popularity of customary recreational activities.

The breakthrough that ensured the continued popularity of the bicycle was the pneumatic tire. While the concept of an air-filled tire had its beginnings in Scotland in 1845, it was 1888 before Scotsman John Dunlop designed a tire suitable for use on the "safety" bicycle, developed in the mid-1880s. The pneumatic tire was introduced into America in 1890, and the burgeoning cycling industry received a noticeable boost as buyers clamored for the mechanically superior and safer machines. Consequently, long-standing objections to women cycling were swept aside. The widespread popularity and availability of the safety bicycle thus created the third, and biggest, boom for cycling throughout the industrialized world. Initially more expensive than the solid-tired high-wheeler, sales of safety bicycles quickly overtook those of the "ordinary" and bicycle production increased markedly.

Women's Cycling in the Nineteenth Century

In the late nineteenth century, the bicycle gave middle-class women independence and social freedom, but not without controversy. Compared to a horse and carriage, the machines were more economical to maintain and run and easier to manage, and they required no special clothing, equipment, accommodation, or staff. With her own bicycle, a woman was able to determine where and when she would ride. Social criticism, however, focused on the masculinity of the new activity—it was unfeminine to ride and to wear cycling clothes, and it made respectable women conspicuous in public.

Logistically, shopping and visiting became more straightforward, but the bicycle also opened up new recreational and sporting opportunities. Group rides and activities were a regular feature of the cycling season, and the club environment enhanced women's knowledge of bicycles and cycling techniques. Clubs also introduced young females to a wider social network, affording favorable occasions for meeting and mixing with young men, sometimes on tandems, without the expected chaperone. Excursions were a major attraction of cycling. In addition to day or weekend trips, major cycle tours appealed to the more adventurous woman, who explored not only her city or state, but also nationally and internationally. Cycle racing offered a new sporting opportunity for competitive women, and American riders won international acclaim. Both track and road racing were highly popular with audiences throughout the 1890s, partly because of the spectacle of women in scant clothing. Women's racing was rarely taken seriously, however, and declined until a gradual revival in the 1930s.

For some women, cycling symbolized the principles of self-determination and social equality and offered the perfect opportunity to promote issues such as dress reform, female suffrage, and temperance, as well as the more general idea of women's social progress. Riding a bicycle necessitated changes in attitudes toward fashion, for dangerous clothing, as well as comfort and convenience, were mutual concerns of cyclists and dress reformers alike. Bloomers, named after Amelia Bloomer, an ardent supporter of dress reform, were promoted in earlier decades, but with limited success. It was not until the bicycle boom of the 1890s that dress reform cyclists readily adopted bloomers.

Popular Culture and Bicycling

During the 1890s, the bicycle, including the tandem, became a feature in songs, poems, jokes, pictures, and literature, many of which often had a romantic theme. In 1892, Henry Dacre published the now-famous song, "Daisy Bell."

Daisy, Daisy,

Give me your answer do,

I'm half crazy

All for the love for you!

It won't be a stylish marriage,

I can't afford a carriage

But you'll look sweet upon the seat

Of a bicycle built for two.

Early to Mid-Twentieth Century

Prices of new cycles continued to fall from 1895 onward. With the ever-increasing secondhand market, and the easily available installment purchase schemes, cycling remained a popular pursuit, despite competition from the automobile. But, unlike in Britain and Europe, in America the period spanning World War I was characterized by a steady decline in cycling. Colonel Pope had turned to automobile manufacture. Cycling generally came in a poor second to the attraction of the motorcar and, according to McGurn, also suffered competition from new electric mass transportation systems. Children's cycles continued to appeal, but it was only the gasoline shortages of the 1940s that caused another brief, but significant, demand for bicycles. After World War II, Americans, like the British and Europeans, sought relief from wartime austerity by enthusiastically engaging in recreation activities. Sports stadiums, cinemas, holiday camps, and seaside resorts were immensely popular, but the pursuit of leisure increasingly involved the acquisition of consumer goods and use of the motorcar, all to the apparent detriment of cycling.

Revival of Bicycling

In the latter decades of the twentieth century there was a marked revival of cycling, stimulated both by market differentiation and environmental and health concerns. During the 1960s, American manufacturers were developing lighter-weight models with the adolescent market in mind. The twenty-six-inch wheel size distinguished these bicycles from the smaller-wheeled children's models and sold well. For the younger set, the Raleigh "chopper," or "high-rise" cycle, with its ape-hanger handlebars, curved "banana" seat, and raised frame behind the seat, was launched in 1969, marking the first of the action bicycles that subsequently evolved. Over time, the "high-rise" design incorporated derailleur gears (used to shift the chain from sprocket to sprocket to change gears, especially in multigeared bicycles, where very low gearing enabled easy hill climbing) and hand brakes and then led to the more sophisticated ten-speed models that dominated the 1970s. This was a highly profitable period for the cycle industry, signified by what cycle historian Frank Berto calls the "Great American Bike Boom of 1971–1974." Conventional wisdom states that this American boom was caused by the oil shortage and recession that followed the Arab-Israeli war, but Berto disagrees, pointing out that the war began in late 1973 and, by the end of that year, the shortage was over. The bicycle boom, nearing its end at this stage, was extended mainly because of public perceptions of the energy crisis. Notwithstanding, bicycling grew steadily into the 1980s and beyond.

Market differentiation gave potential riders a vast array of options, playing on the desire for novelty, adventure, and identity. Image became a key feature of new designs, which were aimed at teenagers. The increasing sophistication of the ten-speed, with its inverted curved handlebars and sleek appearance, appealed to the now-adult post-chopper riders, bolstered by the strong popular interest in health and fitness that marked the late 1970s. The BMX (bicycle motorcross) machine, which enabled riders to negotiate offroad dirt tracks, and to perform stunts, soon replaced the chopper. In the mid-1970s, the mountain bike began its evolution. The first widely available models were the "Specialized Stump Jumper," by San Jose company Specialized Bicycle Imports, and the Univega Alpina Pro, by Long Beach company Univega. Both models were manufactured in Japan. Throughout the 1980s, mountain bike designs were highly popular, and by the mid-1980s, sales of these machines had exceeded road bikes. Mountain bikes differed from road bikes in several key ways: They had wide, knobby tires instead of skinny smooth tires; handlebars were usually upright instead of the inverted curved handlebars; and the frame, seat, and wheels were designed to handle rough terrain comfortably.

Aggressive tourism marketing in the 1990s helped to swell the number of riders who explored their local environs and farther afield. In the early 2000s, a network of creative designers continued to develop new and innovative designs to cater to all cycling needs, including riders with disabilities. A small group of designers produced various recumbent (more horizontal, with the rider sitting low to the ground with legs extended to the front) designs for comfort and energy efficiency, as well as folding cycles for carriage on public transport. Even more enterprising individuals designed bicycles equipped with computers and global positioning systems for long-distance touring.

Frances Willard

Frances Willard (1839–1898) was well-known in the United States and abroad for her social reform efforts. She served as president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) from 1879 until her death in 1898, building it into the largest women's organization of its time, and founded the World WCTU. She learned to ride a bicycle when aged 53 years. She called her bicycle "Gladys" on account of the "exhilarating motion of the machine, and the gladdening effect of its acquaintance and use."

Networks of Enthusiasts

A number of key American organizations actively promote cycling. The League of American Bicyclists (LAB) encourages bicycling for fun, fitness, and transportation, and works through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly society. Originally the League of American Wheelmen, it was responsible for improving terrible road surfaces and helping to establish the current national highway system through its Good Roads movement. Another important organization is the Bicycle Federation of America (BFA), a national, nonprofit corporation established in 1977 to create bicycle-friendly and walkable communities. Now operating as the National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW), its major focus is greater involvement of the public health sector in transportation policy and land-use planning to help create more physically active communities. The passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991 has provided tangible support for numerous bicycle projects that has resulted in significant increases in cycling numbers and, concurrently, decreases in cycle-related fatalities. The 1997 report "Share the Road" stressed the importance of continued cash flow from ISTEA's funding framework and planning provisions.

A conference in 2000 brought together for the first time a diverse group of bicycle advocates, injury prevention specialists, and government representatives. The resulting "National Strategies for Advancing Bicycle Safety" was the first step in changing the cycling environment in significant ways. The National Bicycle Safety Network (NBSN)—a public-private coalition of federal and state agencies, professional and nonprofit safety groups, and bicycling advocacy organizations—volunteered to facilitate implementation of activities for selected portions of the strategy. Similarly, Probicycle, a key advocacy group that promotes education and safety and the skills of effective advocacy, has the motto "Same Roads, Same Rights, Same Rules." Children's participation in cycling was also a key concern of cycle advocacy. Parents and teachers were encouraged to teach sound cycling skills, road rules, and the wisdom of wearing a helmet.

The Father of American Bicycling

Colonel Albert Pope became known as the "father of American bicycling." An 1880 advertising poster for his firm, the Pope Manufacturing Company, promoted the superiority of the bicycle over horse-drawn transport. The advantages of the durable and speedy high-wheeler are highlighted, as well as the need for cycling accessories.

In the early 2000s, cycling was integral to community health policies and programs. Physical activity, combined with overeating, steadily increased the incidence of overweight or obese adults from 47 percent in 1976, to 56 percent in 1994, and 61 percent in 1999. For children and adolescents, the prevalence doubled during the same period (Wilkinson et al., p. 2). The 2001 Surgeon General's report stressed the importance of physical activity in reducing these and other lifestyle diseases and ailments, and, in response, the National Center for Bicycling and Walking published a guide for public health practitioners in which it advanced the argument that more people would bicycle more often if they had safer places to ride.

A wide array of cycling organizations in America cater to specific interest groups, aside from traditional racing. Cyclo-cross, for example, is the cycling equivalent of cross-country running. The sport originated in Europe around seventy-five years ago as an off-season training option as well as to develop advanced riding skills. Cyclists ride on forest trails, parks, and fields, carrying their bikes over unridable sections such as streams and fallen trees. The sport is well developed in the United States, with numerous clubs staging local events.

The American Bicycle Association (ABA) was created in the late 1970s to administer what is now known as BMX, an activity with an enormous following. Similarly, in response to the immense interest in mountain biking in the 1980s, the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) was formed. Since 1988, IMBA has encouraged environmentally sound and socially responsible low-impact riding, volunteer trail building, cooperation among different trail-user groups, and more.

Cycle Routes and Trails

Cycle routes and trails are popular with riders, not only because of their high safety record but also because of their aesthetic appeal. Although dedicated routes are a safe alternative to sharing roads or pathways, many communities lack paths that are separate from road traffic. Trails are also popular. Some examples of the hundreds of successful trails that now exist include the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle, Washington; the Eliza Furnace Trail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the Riverfront Trail in Missoula, Montana. For longer rides, cyclists can access trails fostered by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which aims to enrich America's communities by creating a nationwide network of public trails out of former rail lines and connecting corridors. Besides riding rail trails, cycle tourists can take advantage of the hundreds of groups now organizing extensive tours within America. The NCBW calls for more trails to be built, not only because they are safer for cyclists but also because they encourage more people to take up cycling, thereby increasing community fitness and health.

Bloomers

These loose fitting trousers were adapted from harem pants and first worn by members of the New York Oneida Community in 1848. Bloomers were worn in public around 1851, and popularized by Elizabeth Smith Miller, but named for her friend Amelia Bloomer, editor of the reform journal, Lily. Bloomer supported their use in order to free women from the cumbersome long skirts of the day. Short-lived in popularity, their use was revived during the bicycle boom of the 1890s.

Conclusion

While precursors of the bicycle can be traced back to the Renaissance, it was only during the nineteenth century that advances in technology and design throughout Europe and the United States resulted in the modern form of the machine. Cycling rapidly gained popularity not only as a means of transport, but also as a leisure pursuit and sporting activity for both men and women. The bicycle became the fastest mode of self-propelled locomotion, and the sensation of speed, a completely novel feeling, became one of the pleasures of cycling. Cycling remains an immensely popular leisure activity for Americans of all ages, and the bicycle remains the epitome of an urban machine. While the bicycle has represented the benefits of technological progress and typified the refinements of civilized existence, according to Richard Harmond and others, it has also been the means of escape from a tension-prone industrialized society. On this basis, the activity of cycling will continue to be an emotional palliative for many of today's urban problems.

See also: Automobiles and Leisure, Commercialization of Leisure, Progressive-Era Leisure and Recreation, Tourism, Urbanization of Leisure

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Clare Simpson and Rob Hess