Maria E. Ward

There is the mounting difficulty and the steering difficulty and the pedaling difficulty; and then there is the general difficulty of doing all these things together.

The first thing to do after learning the theory of starting and stopping the machine is to make it go. No matter what happens, keep it going, the faster the better, until a taste is acquired for the pastime; until the going-forward-forever idea seems to have taken possession of you.

Then you want to try it again, but mounting seems more difficult than ever. The machine will not do anything it ought to do; it bucks and kicks and stops and spills and slips, and will not stand still, or even move on. You know how to mount, or think you know; but that knowledge does not seem to aid materially in overcoming the tendencies of the machine.

Now be sure that you do know what to do. The first thing to know is that the weight placed on the pedal starts the machine; that the foot on the ground will hold the machine, and keep it from starting; that the machine when in motion will move without falling, and when at rest will not stand still unless held up.

PREPARING TO MOUNT—SHOWING INCLINATION.

Then determine the amount of inclination the bicycle requires to balance against your weight. The weight placed on the pedal pulls the machine up to a vertical plane; and the inclination to be calculated for soon becomes an accepted quantity. In gripping the handles and inclining the machine, the balance that is felt will set you up on your wheel.

In mounting, the beginner is apt to stand too far behind the mounting pedal. The position should be beside it, and the mounting foot be placed over the frame and on the pedal. Then, raising the weight by means of the handles, step off the ground, letting the pedal take the weight. Do not give any push from the foot on the ground, but step off the ground as you step on the pedal. Stepping on the pedal sets the machine in motion, and rights it at the same time. There is nothing now to do but to let the pedal lower you to the saddle, and hold the other foot up until the other pedal comes around and carries the foot forward.

In mounting, the weight should be distributed between the handles and the pedal until seated on the saddle. To practise mounting, take the wheel, and start on a very slight down grade. Never attempt to practise mounting against a grade, no matter how slight the inclination. A careful instructor teaches mounting and dismounting thoroughly; but if a poor method has been acquired, practise alone until you have gained confidence and perhaps a few bruises. The only way to succeed is to try and try again. Practise fifteen minutes at a time, for it is fatiguing work; and do not become discouraged. With sufficient practice, the difficulty vanishes.

Never practise mounting when tired; for you should be alert, and all your muscles responsive. But persist; practise first mounting, and then dismounting; and then rest by walking the machine about to learn its balance.

Any one who rides or drives, or rows or sails, knows something of the art of steering,—pulling or pushing on one side or the other to change direction,—and on mounting a bicycle has only to apply knowledge already acquired. In steering a bicycle, look directly over the centre of the handle-bars in the direction you wish to take, and push or pull the wheel until the centre of the bars coincides with your objective point. This is really what is done; but the machine is so delicately sensitive that you change its direction almost without knowing that you are doing so. You go where you look; the hands follow the eye; and the art of steering a bicycle resolves itself into knowing where you want to go, and looking in that direction as you move. In steering or mounting, always have an objective point. Look up the road well ahead, and keep the general direction.

A difficulty early experienced is uncertain steering and an uncertain sense of direction. When you are out for practice, look well ahead towards the end of your road over the handles. Novices run into anything they look at, and must concentrate their attention, therefore, on the direction the bicycle ought to take.

INCORRECT MOUNTING POSITION.

The weight inclined from side to side steers the bicycle; pressure on either pedal steers it as well.

Correct and effective pedaling is a very difficult attainment, to be acquired only with care and practice. First make the bicycle go, then study how you do it, and improve your method. Keep in mind the points that are required for correct pedaling. The early difficulty experienced is to keep the knees and ankles in proper line. Turning the knees in and the heels out will prevent the ankle-bones from striking, a difficulty that many experience.

The reason that mounting is so difficult for some is because the foot is placed incorrectly on the pedal, with the toe pointing out. The foot should be parallel with the frame of the bicycle, and the knee turned in; or else, when the weight is raised, the ankle will strike, and the discomfort of the blow will render the attempt to mount unsuccessful. The position seems awkward until correctly acquired; but the awkwardness is due usually to lack of confidence to come close to the machine and to taking a position too far back of the mounting pedal.

The change of direction on mounting often proves confusing, and the bicycle must be steadied, and made to keep its direction at the same time.

Choose your direction, and assure yourself of plenty of room to work in, away from trees or stones or other objects that might prove a source of danger in case of collision. Then mount and go. Keep these two ideas well in mind. If you are uncomfortable, stop and get off; don’t try to adjust anything while in motion. When you get on, go. You cannot get on and keep still. Do not get on unless you are ready to go; keep going when you are on; and the mounting difficulty vanishes.

Steer steadily, and be quick without haste. A hurried change of direction can only be made without danger of a spill by an expert, and then only in an emergency or for track-work. Bicycling requires precision, and haste or hurry is out of place, while quick and alert movement is required.

Take the bicycle out and do as much as you can with it. Part of the fun is conquering difficulties, and each difficulty overcome is an achievement.

Another difficulty experienced is striking the saddle in mounting. This is usually due to springing from the ground to the saddle, or attempting to do so, instead of stepping on the mounting pedal, and supporting and holding the weight on the handle-bars. Of course, if the weight is not supported on the machine, and the machine is started, it cannot carry the weight forward. The saddle will strike, and push you over. Mount by means of the handle-bars; let them take you; shift the weight up by them on to the pedal. Then lower the weight to the saddle, step clear of the ground, and lean a little over the bars if necessary to clear the saddle.

In mounting a bicycle, you mount up on the pedal, and settle from that down to the saddle. If the pedal strikes the other foot, it is because the foot is not held up. Do not be in dread of that other foot; hold it well up out of the way, using the mounting foot to make the machine go.

MOUNTING—PREPARATORY POSITION.

Too great inclination of the machine will spoil the mount, and insufficient inclination will have the same effect. The front wheel must be held in line with the frame, and any wrong tendency corrected by the handle-bars after the weight is raised on the pedal, and the machine is upright.

Many good tires are ruined by ineffectual efforts to mount. The machine is pulled against the tire, and it is hard to understand why the tires are not torn off or ripped to pieces. The light wheels are not made to stand such usage; and it is a mistake to subject a new wheel to it. The rubber is pulled sideways (a proper way to pull a tire off), and the novice is fortunate if the bicycle is not all pulled out of true by being strained in directions not calculated to resist wear and strain. A twenty-pound wheel may be pulled out of true and so bent and untwisted by ineffectual mounting efforts that it cannot be restored without labor that amounts to practically rebuilding the bicycle.

In turning a bicycle, always lean in the direction the machine is inclined. Lean in the direction you want to go, and very little correction will be needed from the handle-bars. In turning, lean with the wheel, and meet it with the handle-bars. Meeting the machine is done continually, and is done by swinging the front wheel to meet the inclination of the bicycle on whichever side it has a tendency to fall. Bringing up is done by pulling the wheel around a little further quickly, and very quickly back again. The frame is lifted by the front wheel. This is explained in the principles of bicycle construction. When an obstacle, as a car track or rut in the road, is met, the obstacle must be crossed squarely; or if obliged to make a different angle, the angle should be met with the front wheel at the instant of contact, and a proper balance maintained with the pedals.

To stop and stand still, pedal slowly until the machine is almost ready to stop; then “catch the pedals half way,” that is, stand on them, rising from the saddle, having the pedals at equal heights, and alternate the pressure. Hold the saddle firmly, pressing against both sides to feel the balance and to hold the balance by means of the saddle between the pedals with the weight on the feet.

As you catch the pedals, give the front wheel a sudden twist towards the back pedal, which will prevent the bicycle from falling on that side; then control the balance by the weight on the other pedal, and if necessary restore balance by a quick twist of the front wheel. The best way to practise this is to stop near a smooth wall, and use that to assist to steady the balance.

Two people can stop and stand still in this way, crossing hands as in skating, gripping the inner handles of the bicycles, and stopping by holding the pedals and controlling the front wheels by the handles, using the outer hand. This makes a very pretty and effective pause.

Numbness undoubtedly comes from interrupted circulation, caused either by the clothing or the method of working. Numbness of the hands and fingers may be traced generally to tight clothing, and after all surface pressure is removed may safely be attributed to a too tight gripping of the handles. A large soft glove often aids to prevent numbness of the fingers; if gloves are not worn, the hand is apt to grasp too closely. Change of position, too, will tend to counteract numbness. It is not well to work too long at a time without a rest, if there is any tendency of this kind. Walk up hill or on the level to restore the circulation.

Numbness of the foot can be caused by surface pressure, the shoes, or the saddle. Sitting too close to the saddle while working, instead of carrying the weight on the pedals, is apt to produce numbness of the feet. Garters or belts will have the same effect, and must be watched and regulated. A shoe adapted for walking is not at all suitable for serious bicycle exercise; the strains and pressure all come in the wrong places, and confine and numb the feet. Free ankle movement is imperative, and freedom for the lower muscles of the calf of the leg; room for the feet, and especially for the toes to spread and to assist in pressing the pedal. The sole of the shoe should be stiff, to prevent bruises from the pedals or from irregularities on the ground.

Concussion and a consequent vibratory movement of the bicycle are impossible to avoid, but they need not affect the wheeler injuriously. Numbness is sometimes due to a condition of the nerves of the parts affected by the vibratory movement. To prevent this condition of affairs, never wheel with the weight on the hands, nor grip the handles of the handle-bars too tight. Rest the hands lightly on the handles, and be prepared to squeeze hard when necessary. Study the best position and most convenient height for the hands when the machine is best under control, and the jar and vibration are not perceived. All joints of wrist, elbow, and shoulder should transmit any motion, not locate it, by being fixed or rigid at any point.

The tire of the wheel should not be hard, nor should the saddle be fitted with springs; and it should be so placed as to allow the rider to rise easily on the pedals for rough wheeling. These rules being observed, serious danger from this cause need not be apprehended.

Wheeling over cobble-stone pavement or over good Belgian blocks produces a marked vibration in the bicycle. It would be a satisfactory test for adjustment of position to be able to wheel over such a surface with comfort, feeling the vibration of the bicycle hardly at all.

The difficulty experienced in wheeling over rough surface is caused by lack of confidence and by general stiffness of all the muscles, which causes the full force of the vibration to be felt. In carrying the weight on the pedals, the vibration is less intensely felt. To grip the handles for rough surface riding is almost involuntary, but it is accompanied by acute discomfort from vibration. Pedal work only will meet this difficulty.

There are different methods of mounting. The pedal mount is usually the one first attempted on a drop-frame bicycle; the mount over the wheel on a diamond-frame.

The diamond-frame mount from the peg is made in this way: Standing directly behind the machine, the handles of the handle-bars are grasped firmly. One foot is placed on the peg, and the wheel inclined away from that foot; the foot on the ground gives a shove, and the bicycle moves off, carrying the weight on the peg; and the other foot swings forward to catch the pedal, which was a little behind the top of the circle on starting.

The drop-frame has several rather pretty pedal mounts and vaults. In one, the bars are held, and the machine is started. Watch the rhythm of the pedal, and as it passes the top of the stroke, incline the machine away from you, place the other foot on the pedal, swing the foot next the machine over in front, and catch the other pedal as it rises; then sit easily on the saddle. The vault is made after starting the machine, running or hurrying along, and springing from the ground to the saddle, using the handles to help. The pedals are found after being seated on the saddle; and the machine moves with the momentum given it in running before rising in the vault.

There is a mount from the pedal on the same side on which you are standing. Start the bicycle, and keep along with it, watching the pedals. As the pedal near you comes up and over the top of the curve, step on it with the outside foot, inclining the machine well away from you; at the same time the weight will carry the pedal around with you, and as it rises, the other pedal and the saddle can be found. The same mount may be made without starting the machine. Hold the machine inclined from you; place the outside foot against the pedal until it is at its furthest point away from you; hold the bicycle firmly, and step on, swinging the foot off the ground around to the other pedal, in front of the saddle, not behind it. On the diamond-frame, the same mount is made, only the foot is swung behind the saddle, not in front of it, as is possible on the drop-frame machine.

To stop the bicycle with another person on it, grasp the handle-bars, and take hold of the shoulder of the person propelling the bicycle, if necessary.