84 



BICYCLES AND TRICYCLES. 



the point of support, the equilibrium of the 

 machine and rider is maintained. 



Mathematical computation has shown that, 

 as compared with walking, a given distance 

 can be accomplished on a bicycle in about one 

 third of the time, and with less than one sixth 

 of the exertion. This does not take into ac- 

 count rough roads, hills, nor wind, 

 all of which affect the bicycler 

 more than they do the pedestrian. 



The rake (the backward inclina- 

 tion of the fork from the perpen- 

 dicular) is an important element 

 in the construction of a bicycle. 

 A certain amount is necessary 

 for safety ; an increase of this 

 amount involves a dis- 

 proportionate loss of 

 energy in propelling 

 the wheel, and a de- 



THE BICXCJB IX 1865. 



crease diminishes the percentage of safety and 

 renders the rider unduly liable to forward 

 falls or " headers." It should be about 3-82 

 inches for a fifty-inch wheel, varying '07 inch 

 for each size larger or smaller. 



Organizations. The League of American 

 Wheelmen is an association of bicycle and tri- 

 cycle riders, and riders of other velocipedes, in 

 the United States and Canada, organized at 

 Newport, May 31, 1880, and having for its 

 object " to promote the general interests of 

 bicycling and tricycling ; to ascertain, defend, 

 and protect the rights of wheelmen ; and to 

 encourage and facilitate touring." Its mem- 

 bership is open to all amateur wheelmen of 

 good standing (Including ladies), and numbers 

 about 5,000 riders, from nearly every section 

 of the United States and Canada. Consuls are 

 located at all places of importance, who collect 

 information about the condition and improve- 

 ments of the roads, mishaps to wheelmen from 

 careless or willful drivers and other causes, 

 tours, etc., and forward it to the president. 

 In this way a vast amount of knowledge of the 

 roads of the country is being collected, a sub- 

 ject of which heretofore comparatively little 

 has been known. At the annual meeting of the 

 League there are generally a parade of all the 

 attending wheelmen in line, races for the League 

 championship, and a banquet. The place of 



meeting is in some large city, and changes from 

 year to year. The Cyclists' Touring Club is an 

 international organization, whose members are 

 to be found in nearly every country in Europe, 

 in Australia, and in America, where it has a 

 large and constantly increasing membership. 

 The headquarters are in England. The Cana- 

 dian Wheelmen's Association is an 

 organization similar to the League 

 of American Wheelmen, but de- 

 signed exclusively for Canadians. 

 Besides these three associations, 

 there are over four hundred local 

 clubs, in all parts of the country, 

 formed for the enjoyment of the 

 pastime, and for promoting the 

 use of the vehicle by the general 

 public. The first club was formed 

 in Boston in 1878. 



Periodicals. "Outing and the 

 Wheelman " is an eighty-page il- 

 lustrated monthly magazine, de- 

 voted to the out-door positive 

 amateur recreations, including bi- 

 cycling and tricycling, to which 

 it gives the leading place. There 

 are,besides, the "Bicycling World," 

 successor to the "American Bi- 

 cycling Journal," established in 

 1877 ; the " Wheel," the " Western 

 Cyclist," the "Amateur Athlete," 

 which is the official organ of the 

 League of American Wheelmen, 

 and several other wheel publica- 

 tions. 



Race-Tracks. There are many 

 race-tracks in this country, specially constructed 

 for the bicycle. In-door tracks are made either 

 of boards, smooth and closely fitted, or of con- 

 crete ; and have raised corners, to prevent the 

 wheel from slipping in turning. Out-door 

 tracks are either ordinary clay tracks, well 

 rolled grass-tracks, or cinder-paths. The first- 

 mentioned is sufficiently well known to need 

 no description. The grass-track is a piece of 

 good turf with the grass cut short, and then 

 watered and rolled to make it firm. The cin- 

 der-path is the best, and is coming into general 

 use. One of the best of this kind is at Har- 

 vard College. It is a quarter of a mile in 

 length, with a home-stretch and back-stretch of 

 150 yards straight-away, joined by semicircu- 

 lar ends. The width of the track is fifteen 

 feet, and the home- stretch twenty feet. The 

 ground is first removed to the depth of a foot 

 at the sides, sloping to eighteen inches at the 

 center; a blind drain, eight inches wide by 

 five inches deep, filled with round stones, is 

 laid along the center ; a layer of broken stone 

 of a uniform depth of six inches is then laid 

 on, and over this a layer of slag or broken 

 granite four inches deep ; then comes a layer 

 of coarse cinders, a layer of finer cinders, and 

 on top a thin coating of screenings. The track 

 ia then watered and rolled, a process that must 

 be repeated frequently, to keep it in good order. 



