BICYCLING. 



4*5 



most monotonous kind to ride up and down 

 the boulevards and through the same parks, 

 tunc after tunc; but as SOOH as you >trikc 

 boldly out into unknown territory ther 

 an added charm of exploration that never 

 palls. Let your runs extend 40 or 50 miles 

 from home, into places where you have 

 never been before. Good road maps, with 

 explicit directions as to routes, can be se- 

 cured in any city, and with these you can 

 go anywhere without danger of losing your 

 way. You will have the best of roads to 

 travel on, and road houses and inns where 

 meals and lodging can be secured are more 

 frequent than there is necessity for, most of 

 them having been revived solely by the in- 

 creased travel due to the bicycle. Every 

 turn of the road will bring new and refresh- 

 ing scenes to view, and you can revel in the 

 beauties of nature's landscapes to your 

 heart's content. A trip of 100 miles can be 

 arranged, to begin at noon Saturday and 

 end Sunday afternoon or evening. Strike 

 out for some town 40 or 50 miles away, 

 where there is a good hotel. Stay there 

 over night, and in the morning, after a 

 good breakfast, resume the trip more leis- 

 urely, returning by a new and longer route. 



The element of time should be altogether 

 eliminated from such rides. The prime ob- 

 ject is pleasure, and the only way to get 

 real pleasure out of them is to assume that 

 you are unlimited as to time. Ride at a 

 moderate pace that will allow "you to see 

 what you pass and to dally in pleasant 

 places, smoking the pipe of peace, by the 

 singing brook, 'neath the grateful shade of 

 wide-spreading boughs, or perusing the 

 thrilling tale of the heroine of the summer 

 novel. Remember that you have left the 

 worry and hurry of the city behind and have 

 become, for the nonce, a living part of the 

 rural tranquillity. 



When the summer vacation comes a 

 week's tour through the country, on a bi- 

 cycle, will give astonishing returns in pleas- 

 ure, health, and new information, for the 

 slight expense entailed. Such a tour should 

 be made in company with one or more 

 agreeable and amiable companions, and a 

 tandem forms an ideal way for man and 

 wife to travel. A pretty section of country 

 should be selected where there are good 

 roads, plenty of shade and small streams 

 and lakes, to be reached by train if not near 

 home, and no absolute itinerary should be 

 laid out in advance. Form a general idea 

 as to destination and routes and leave in- 

 termediate points and time schedules to be 

 determined by circumstances as they arise. 



For a week's trip it is not necessary to 

 carry much baggage. A Saratoga trunk 

 is superfluous. All that is required can be 

 readily carried in one of the canvas bags 

 made to fit in the frame of the machine, 

 supplemented by waterproofs and light 

 wraps that may -be strapped to the handle- 

 bars. 



Try such a trip this summer. Put your 

 wheel to its noblest use, and see if your 

 enthusiasm for cycling is not increased 100 



per cent or more. 



" A man is known by the company he 

 keeps." 



And a woman by her dressmaker." 

 — Chicago News. 



REMODELED FRAMES. 



Every new season brings its change in 

 bicycle styles, as well as in styles of dress. 

 And these new styles, when they spread 

 rapidly and are generally adopted, become 

 fads. Not many important changes in the 

 construction 01 bicycle frames were made 

 last winter, but the fad for this season is 

 low frames, with short heads and crank- 

 hangers dropped from 2 to 3 inches. Such 

 a frame, when equipped with handle-bars 

 about 20 inches wide and but slightly 

 dropped, is thoroughly up to date. 



Not every wheelman was in a position 

 last spring to pay $50 to $75 for a new 

 model, however, especially when he found 

 his old machine could not be traded in as 

 readily as in the past, and that at best it 

 would not bring more than $15 to $25. 

 But a new machine each season is essential 

 to the happiness of every enthusiastic 

 cycling club member, and they individually 

 and collectively racked their brains until 

 finally a new wrinkle, in matters bicycular, 

 was hit upon. By this scheme a new model 

 could be secured at less than a third of the 

 cost of a '98 machine. It was found that at 

 an expense of $6 to $10 the old bicycle, 

 bought in 1896 or '97, could be made over 

 into the latest model by having the repair- 

 man cut the frame down from 24, 25, or 26 

 inches in height to 22 inches; shorten the 

 head a corresponding amount, and give the 

 crank-hanger an additional drop of an inch 

 or 2, after which the frame was all nicely 

 re-enameled. Then, by putting on a pair of 

 new handle-bars, of the wide type: new 

 tires, and a new saddle, the owner had a bi- 

 cycle that was in every respect as handsome 

 and serviceable as a brand new model 

 bought from the manufacturer or dealer; 

 provided the bearings in the old machine 

 were in good condition and there was no 

 structural weakness in the frame. 



Thousands of old bicycles were made over 

 in this way, during last winter and spring, 

 the practice being especially prevalent, of 

 course, in the large cities like New York, 

 Chicago, and the big towns of the central 

 states. 



AS TO RACING. 



Great changes have taken place in bicycle 

 racing since last season. The promotion 

 and management of race meets have largely 

 passed out of the hands of bicycle clubs into 

 the hands of track associations, formed by 



