Accuracy is the first principle of cycling; and the would-be bicyclist should learn as early as possible that ease of movement and precision of movement are inseparable; and that bruises and bumps and wrenches, though they may have an educational value, are not a necessary accompaniment of the sport. The skilful instructor need never allow a scratch or a bruise. Some people want to learn everything at once; but only so much should be done at each attempt as can be done accurately, if it be only walking the machine about and standing it up. This exercise is helpful, for walking a bicycle about requires a series of accurate movements, and accurate movement is necessary in learning mounting and propelling.

The bicycle is a marvel of adjustment, and the bicyclist is obliged to adopt movements that correspond with the movements of the bicycle. The more accurate this correspondence of movement, the greater the ease of propulsion.

The lines and angles of the levers of feet and legs must be studied to so apply them as to secure the best results. Avoid undue tension. Learn just how much to lean the bicycle in mounting, just where to place the foot, where to stand in relation to the handle-bars, and where to place the weight on the machine. This understood, mounting is accomplished. The bicycle may be mastered, and easily mastered, by remembering all the things not to do and by doing all the things that should be done.

To assist another to do what you do not know how to do yourself is not an easy task; yet there are people who are willing to undertake it.

A bicycle is so nicely balanced that it is easy to hold it up if it is taken hold of in the right way. Grasp the back of the saddle firmly with one hand, take hold of one of the handles with the other, and the machine is in your power. A person seated on the saddle with a firm hold of the handles of the handle-bar, becomes, as it were, a part of the machine, and when sitting quite still is governed by the same laws of balance that control the bicycle.

Take hold of a bicycle with some one seated in the saddle, and move it a few inches forward, then a few inches backward, and it becomes at once perceptible that but little force is necessary to overcome the inertia of the combined weights of wheel and rider. The wheel has a tendency to fall to either side, but it is easy to balance the weight on the tires. Then hold the wheel a little toward you, for it is easier and less fatiguing than to hold it from you. If the bicycle is allowed to incline from you, it will pull you over; if it inclines toward you, you can support its weight against the shoulder. If the rider sits still and inclines with the machine, it is easily righted; but if the rider’s weight is thrown in a direction opposite to the inclination of the bicycle, the tendency to fall is increased, and the inclined bicycle is pushed over.

Before assisting another person with a bicycle, it is well to note all the tendencies of the machine. This may be done by taking a bicycle and putting it in all the different positions mentioned. The motions are the same whether or not there is any one in the saddle, and it is well to learn to manage the machine without exerting too much force. Stand on the left-hand side of the bicycle, and hold the saddle with the right hand. The steering may be done with the left hand, and the bicycle kept upright by wiggling the front wheel. It is better to do this than to attempt to hold the front wheel still. Walk the bicycle about by the handle-bars only, and you will find that to keep the wheel straight it is necessary to hold the bars stiff, and this is quite a difficult undertaking. Allowed to move gently from side to side, the wheel is more easily controlled.

When assisting a person for the first time, stand beside the machine, see that the pedal farthest from you is raised to its greatest height, and move the bicycle forward until the pedal is commencing its down stroke. Then let the wheeler step in beside the bicycle, in front of you and on the same side of the machine, and grasp both handles firmly. Stand as close as possible to the bicycle, having it inclined toward you at such an inclination that the weight of the wheeler, stepping to the opposite pedal, will right it. Then, while you hold the bicycle still, the wheeler should step on the raised pedal, stand upon the pedal with the knee stiff, and then settle slowly on the saddle; the other foot must find the down pedal. Do not let the machine move yet, but have the beginner go over these movements again, practising them from both sides of the machine until a little confidence is felt.

It is all important to get on the saddle quickly and easily and without necessity for readjustment. If a skirt is worn, it should be arranged before placing the weight on the pedal, and the knee should be slightly bent when the pedal is lowest. The saddle should be the right height; the handle-bars should be a trifle high, that is, when the rider sits erect; the hands should rest easily and comfortably on the hand-grips. Now the thing for the rider to do is to ride and hold on to the handles. Don’t let the wheel get away from you. To prevent an accident, should this happen, the beginner should know how to come off the bicycle. An active person can step to the ground before the wheel has time to fall. To get off, step on the pedal that is down, and throw the other foot over.

If the saddle is not right, dismount the wheeler in this way: Have the wheeler’s feet firmly placed on both pedals, and see that the down pedal is on the side on which you are standing. Pull the machine a little to that side, and see that the foot is on the down pedal. Then direct the wheeler to step on this down pedal, throwing all the weight on it, and to pass the raised foot over in front of the down foot to the ground. The foot on the down pedal should not be removed until the other foot, placed on the ground, has taken the rider’s weight.

Say that you are now going to move, and let the wheeler mount as before. Show that a wiggling movement must be kept up with the front wheel, and say that you will help to do it. See that the wheeler has both handles held firmly, and then grasp the bars just in front of the handle. Keep firm hold of the saddle, and control the balance and push by that, letting the bars do their own work.

A learner always pushes too hard on the pedals.

Take the machine about, and trot it up and down, holding it firmly and keeping it balanced. Should it pull you over, the wheeler can step off without difficulty.

It is much easier for two than for one to help a beginner. A trio of novices can form a very fair school. A bicycle is inclined either to pull or to push, and if supported on both sides, the pulling tendency is avoided and the pushing tendency readily corrected. If ladies are helping one another, the best way is for two to hold the bicycle, standing one on each side of the machine. Both should hold the saddle and both should hold the handle-bars just beyond the handles and above the hands of the wheeler. One should instruct, and the other help to hold the machine.

Let a beginner first learn to mount, then to dismount, practising these movements several times before starting; then, having made sure that the pedal on that side is two-thirds up, come to the left hand side of the wheel, step on the pedal, and be seated in the saddle; then put the weight on the pedal that is down, and step off with the other foot. Repeat several times, mounting from each side, dismounting on the same side and on the opposite side, at command, and repeating. Tilt the wheel as the weight goes on the pedal. Dismount the pupil, and walk the wheel about between you, wiggling the front wheel. Then mount your pupil, and proceed as already explained. After the pupil begins to propel the wheel, very little assistance from the instructor is necessary, and care should be taken not to confuse the pupil as to the amount of work they are doing. Call attention to the ease with which the wheel is brought up when inclined to fall, and explain about turning and steering and wiggling, and what these motions are for. You cannot propel a bicycle unless you know what you are doing; there cannot be guess-work about it. The perfect confidence that comes with familiarity and practice must precede success.

Given three people with one bicycle, all can learn to ride, helping each other in turn. Having learned to mount and dismount, the next thing is to learn to start the bicycle. The weight should be allowed to start the bicycle as soon as the foot, pressing on the pedal as it descends, brings the wheeler to the saddle.

The stop should be learned next. The wheeler should be reminded to notice which is the down pedal, and to step on it with all the weight just as it begins to rise. This will stop the machine, and the dismount is made in the usual way by throwing the other foot over, and stepping with that on the ground. The foot that has stopped the machine should not leave the pedal too soon, but remain on it long enough to control the bicycle.

As soon as the wheeler can pedal a little and has the balance well enough to ride without assistance, the next thing is to learn to ride over ordinary obstructions, and to remain on the wheel for a given number of minutes without dismounting. All this can be taught in an ordinary room or on a piazza; and both teacher and pupil will find a smooth surface, such as a board floor or a pavement, best adapted for the work. Attention cannot too soon be directed to taking the weight off the ascending pedal, and the exercise should not be prolonged for a moment after this becomes a difficult thing to do.

At first the practice leaves the beginner much agitated and breathless; but these conditions are overcome after a few lessons, though experienced riders sometimes experience a return of them when they find mounting difficult and do not notice the grade they are attempting. The sensitiveness of the wheel sometimes puzzles the beginner, and the sense of adjustment is often difficult to acquire.

Nervous work and nervous effort are noticeable in no other sport in the same marked degree. Some seize and adopt its salient points at once and almost unconsciously, but the majority are not so fortunate. The first fifteen minutes on a bicycle are frequently enough to cause thorough exhaustion. The best remedy for this is to take the wheel and walk it about; the pupil should be left alone with it. If fifteen minutes’ work is too much, alternate five minutes’ work with rest at the next lesson.

The balance and distribution of strength for the pull by the hands is quite important in directing and controlling the machine. The feet are used to propel and to balance. The teacher should note carefully if the beginner errs by incorrect pedaling or by too much pull on the handles, and correct the wrong tendency.

Balance by pedaling comes next in order, and cannot be practised too early; and as by this time a fair amount of speed will have been attained, the natural balance begins to be acquired.

Balanced pedaling and swaying are very different, and should not be confused. The bicycle may be propelled, balanced, and controlled entirely by the pedals; and as this is the best and most important mode of wheeling, it should early be understood and attempted.

The adjustment of the machine should now be taken up, and the wheeler should know how and why the bicycle can be changed to suit individual peculiarities. The wiggling tendency of the front wheel lessens as the wheeler acquires confidence; and its unsteadiness can be overcome and controlled with the balance and by pedaling, with the swaying of the body or the pressure of either foot.

There is much to avoid as well as much to do. Incorrect position means difficult work, almost impossible propulsion and possible personal injury. The knowledge that everything is firmly screwed up about the bicycle, and particularly that the saddle is secure, cannot be too soon acquired. Never attempt to mount or even to try the bicycle unless the saddle is properly secured and immovable. If anything breaks, it is not necessarily your fault; if anything is insecure, blame no one for not attending to something you should yourself have attended to. Always examine the pedals to see that they turn easily; and be sure about that saddle. It is a good deal of trouble to screw the nut up tight for a few minutes, or even for half a minute, but it should be done.

When adjusting the saddle, never be hurried when tools are to be used, for it is necessary to apply them carefully to insure accuracy; and a nut really requires serious attention, for often a good deal depends upon it. If screwed hurriedly, the thread is in danger of being injured, and on that thread the holding power of the nut depends.

When the beginner can balance and propel the bicycle for a little way alone, the really tedious part of learning often begins. At this point beginners become discouraged, for there seems to be nothing new to learn; yet the results attained are unsatisfactory. What is needed is practice.

Practise on a smooth piece of road, with some one running beside the bicycle to give confidence and prevent falls. The proper position in mounting should be studied. In mounting a drop-frame machine, never step over the frame and place the foot on the ground; it is an awkward and ungainly method. Take a proper position, then be sure everything is right, and last of all, step on the pedal, and you are moving.

A good way to practise, if you have no one to help you, is to mount the bicycle in the gutter, and limp along; or if in the country, a roadside fence may give the needed assistance. Grasp a post firmly, and holding by it, try to mount; and study the tendencies and the balance of the bicycle without letting go the post.

Make up your mind how to mount, start the pedal properly, and keep trying until you can ride a little. If a little, why not more? Keep on practising, avoiding faults.

For instruction, the bicycle should be fitted with an instructor’s handle, and the pupil provided with a belt having one handle or more. The instruction handle and a hold on the handle-bar are sufficient safeguard for most pupils, but the belt will often give confidence to the timid and aid the instructor.