BICYCLING. 



TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE. 

 !•:. s. c. 



Gaily along by a winding stream, 

 Whirl two little girls in bine — 



Out on the wave, in a mirrored dream — 

 A man in a swift canoe. 



One little girl guards close her wheel, 



Striving a record to win — 

 The other dear girl, eying the boat, 



Wobbled, and ran right in. 



Man to the rescue — damp little girl 

 Saved from the watery snare — 



With a damaged wheel — a damaged heart- 

 And a frock not fit to wear. 



Girl on the bank still keeeps to her plan- 

 Spins on to the goal in view — 



Girl in the boat just sits by the man — 

 Comes out a prize-winner too. 



Mary had a little lamb, that time has 

 passed away; no lamb could follow up the 

 pace th. : Mary sets to-day; for she rides on 

 an air-shod wheel, in skirts too short by 

 half; no lambkin shares her airy flight, but 

 you can see her calf. 



AN ABUSE OF ENDURANCE. 



The development of the chainless bicycle 

 last winter gave rise to unlimited discus- 

 sion of the relative merits of the chain- 

 driven bicycle and the bevel-gear type. Af- 

 ter scientists had theorized on the subject 

 and the 2 types had been put through an 

 elaborate course of dynamometer tests, in 

 experiment rooms and laboratories, it was 

 generally conceded that the most practical 

 way of settling the question was by a sea- 

 son's actual use of the chainless machine 

 on the road. As an unusually severe test 

 of this kind, Edward S. Edwards, of New 

 York, set out on the self-appointed task of 

 determining, by actual trial, how many con- 

 secutive centuries could be ridden on a 

 chainless bicycle in a year. It was generally 

 reported at the time that he had started out 

 to do a century every day in the year, which, 

 although not his original intention, the 

 plucky little Welshman has continued to do 

 up to the present time. He has been beset 

 with many discouraging obstacles, such for 

 instance as a New York blizzard in January, 

 which made it necessary to have a path 

 shoveled in the snow for him and a cutter 

 to pace him against the cutting wind. Then 

 he was arrested for fast riding, by the po- 

 lice of Washington, where he went in search 

 of more propitious weather. Never daunt- 

 ed, he kept steadily at the task, which seems 

 more like a test of human endurance than 

 of any particular type of bicycle, until he 



passed all previous world's records for con- 

 secutive centuries, on March 7, at which 

 time he had ridden 66 centuries in as many 

 days, each 100 miles having been completed 

 within the 14 hour limit set by the Century 

 Road Club of America. Instead of the 

 strain pulling him down, he increased in 

 weight, during the early part of the year, 

 and was strong and in the best of spirits, as 

 the following extract from a letter written 

 at that time, shows: 



" The 06th century contained the same 

 monotony as the others, as many people 

 persisted in crossing the street directly in 

 front of us, to their alarm and our dis- 

 quietude; for we have a strong voice and 

 like to use it, sans bell. Cactus jires, no 

 punctures; chainless wheel, no worriment 

 of chain jumping or bedustment; padded 

 saddle, no chafing or soreness; cushion 

 grips, no vibration; no nothing but the 

 world's record for which we started and 

 which we got without putting any part of 

 the combination to any serious strain what- 

 ever." 



Edwards was born in Anglesea, Wales, 

 but became a naturalized citizen of this 

 country. For 5 years before coming to the 

 United States he was noted as a fast road 

 rider in England, where he at one time held 

 the Liverpool to London record. After 

 coming across the Atlantic he broke the 

 24 hour road record of this country. He is 

 of slight build, weighing only 120 pounds, 

 but is very muscular and hardy. . 



Commenting on the task Edwards has 

 set out to perform, the editor of an Eng- 

 lish cycling paper, and an acknowledged 

 authority on bicycle riding and racing, says 

 that in his opinion he will not succeed. " A 

 hundred miles in the day is nothing; but 

 100 miles a day for every day in the week, 

 Sundays included, through all 4 seasons of 

 the year, is a prodigious task. A wave of 

 heat in midsummer or a real blizzard next 

 Christmas might utterly stop him. An in- 

 finite staleness is certain to creep over him, 

 and even if weather permits, his own phys- 

 ical condition will probably condemn him 

 to failure. It is a grievous example of the 

 abuse of cycling and a task of drudgery, of 

 a colossal nature. If proof were wanted 

 that this particular bicycle would travel 36,- 

 500 miles in a year, it might be ridden by a 

 troop of riders in turn. In fact, with 4 or 

 5 men up, it might be ridden continuously, 

 day and night, for a year with a stupendous 

 total as a result — a far better result as a 

 biycle test. 



" This ride, as a man test, will, if success- 

 ful, certainly do harm to the rider. A long 

 ride occasionally is enjoyable, but the mo- 

 notony of 100 miles a day, all the year 

 round, must be unendurable, and I believe 



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