340 



♦ KNO^A^LEDGE * 



[Oct. 24, 1884. 



often be reduced to bttween five and six miles an hour, 

 and that, therefore, to drive at the rate continuously of 

 nine or ten miles an hour they must, to compensate for 

 this reduced speed, make a pace a great part of the way of 

 from twelve to fifteen miles an hour, and this although 

 they were only novices in riding. 



Nothing in my experience hinders a novice in his pro- 

 gress to good riding so much as trying at once to ride very 

 fast. Let him strive only to ride as easily as possible, and, 

 after a time, if he rides a good machine, the pace will come 

 without proportionately increased exertion. 



Even if you intend to ride quickly, never start quickly ; 

 do not start at more than five or six miles an-hour for the 

 first few miles, particularly if you start directly after break- 

 fast, and purpose riding for the whole day. 



As I have mentioned rough roads, let me say at once 

 that the way to ride those as easily as possible is to have 

 good large rubber tyres on your wheels. No tyres should 

 be used less than | of an inch in diameter for the driving- 

 wheels of single machines, and ^ths are better. The small 

 wheels should have tyres Jth larger than those on the 

 driving-wheels. The rubber tyres of the Sociables should 

 be Jth larger than the sizes I have recommended for single 

 machines. 



Large tyres will be found advantageous in many ways ; 

 they will not be nearly so liable to come ofi" as small tyres, 

 and they will not be cut to anything like the same extent 

 by sharp stones. Their durability will, therefore, be found 

 very great. 



Mud is, of course, a great obstacle to easy riding. I have 

 only one hint to give in connection with it. If the mud is 

 stiff— not slushy — ride where the mud is the wettest. I 

 constantly see people riding on the driest part of the road 

 under these circumstances, where the work is twice as 

 hard. 



Hill-riding is, of course, hard work; but practice and 

 skill in time make it comparatively easy. 



Two-speed gearings are the greatest boon to those who 

 wish to ride easily. My advice is, never ride any machine 

 without one. In former articles I have described those I 

 consider the best. 



If you wish to ride without fatigue, 'never pitU at your 

 handles. Whenever you are on rising ground, or working 

 through mud, or over loose stones, or against wind, lean 

 well forward, resting on your handles, instead of pulling at 

 them. This position has the great advantage for hill-riding 

 that there is no fear of the machine capsizing backwards ; 

 and for making progress against the wind it is the best, 

 because it diminishes considerably the surface of the body 

 presented to the wind. 



Whenever you find that leaning forward does not give 

 sufiicient power, rise from your seat or saddle and stand on 

 your pedals, if you have not far to go under such difficulty; 

 but if you have, dismount at once, for you will find pushing 

 the machine much easier than riding, and the change of 

 motion acts as a rest. 



In dismounting on a steep hill, do not trust to your 

 break, as there are very few breaks which will stop a 

 machine when it is running backwards. Lean well forward 

 and stop by pedalling forwards if it commences to run 

 backwards, steering at the same time, so that the tricycle 

 will turn straight across the hill. 



Clutches are a great assistance to easy riding, and help 

 a rider considerably in surmounting short, steep hills, 

 especially if there is a short, steep down-hill before coming 

 to them. 



When the machine has a clutch, or clutches, the feet can 

 be held still at any tioie and the pedals act as foot-rests. 

 In running down a slight incline, the pedals may be driven 



quickly at intervals, and the machine may be made to 

 travel at a good pace, and yet the rider may rest himself 

 the greater part of the time. 



An illustration will best show the use of the clutch. 

 Riding one morning near Croydon, a tricyclist overtook me 

 and passed me, evidently using some exertion to do so. 



I have made it a rule never to race with any one, so I 

 did not quicken my pace, but after a time I came up with 

 the rider at the top of a steep hill ; having a clutch on my 

 machine, I pedalled very quickly just at the top of the hill, 

 then held my feet still until I was three-quarters of the way 

 down, and at this point pedalled again quickly, and rode 

 all the way up the opposite hill without difficulty, 

 probably at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour. I 

 could not with safety have taken my feet ofi" my pedals and 

 caught them when rushing down the hill, ily antagonist 

 tried to pedal fast down the hill, and missed his pedals, and 

 letting his machine come nearly to a standstill, he came on. 

 dead-centres about half way up the hill, and had to dismount 

 and push up the rest of the way, and he did not attempt to 

 pass me again. I doubt if I should have got away from 

 him had it not been for my clutch. 



Clutches are invaluable on a Sociable when you are riding 

 with a lady, for it frequently happens that a lady tires 

 quickly, and then, if she cannot pedal as quickly as the 

 gentleman, she actually helps to stop the machine ; with a 

 clutch this is impossible. 



The last hints I can give here a.i regards easy riding, are 

 to ride on a saddle well over your cranks, and to use a 

 crank with a short throw. The first Sociable I had was 

 furnished with a crank nearly 6i in. long ; now I am riding 

 with a crank barely 4 in. long. Short cranks are not nearly 

 so tiring as long ones, unless the machine is geared too 

 high. Of course, for working up a steep hill long cranks 

 are the best, but the excessive motion of the legs con- 

 tinuously, to so great an extent, becomes fatiguing. For 

 this reason, using plenty of ankle-play, so as to reduce the 

 rise and fall of the knees, will be found very advantageous. 

 On a future occasion I may write a short article on pedal- 

 ling, as I cannot at fitting length refer to it here. 



If my readers e.xpect me to tell them how to ride fifteen 

 or sixteen miles in an hour, and a hundred miles within 

 ten hours on a right-away, give-and-take road, I am sorry I 

 cannot assist them. Two or three members of my club can 

 do this, and I know half-adozen men altogether who can 

 accomplish it ; but I doubt if they could help any one else 

 to do it, if they wished to. Their great pace is the result 

 of youth, health, strength, and incessant practice, and 

 coupled with these a determination, whenever they ride at 

 such a rate, to spare neither themselves nor their machines, 

 come what will. 



DICKENS'S STORY LEFT HALF TOLD. 



A QUASI-SC1E.\TIFIC INQUIKT IXTO 



THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD. 

 By Thomas Foster. 



(Continued from p. 314.) 



THE next chapter is one of the most interesting in the 

 book, and is worthy of Dickens's best days. It con- 

 tains several points well worth noticing in reference to the 

 development of the plot. 



In the first place, we note that Crisparkle has come up 

 "by the very first train to be caught in the morning," so 

 that there is no fear lest Jasper should be in town too, for 

 he must stay for the morning service at Cloisterham. He 

 has consulted with Mr. Grewgious. It is noteworthy, by 



