The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1869-01-28
THE VELOCIPEDE.


THE coming thing is the velocipede.
Certainly it is one of the funniest, queerest
and most interesting machines that has
been invented, and upon the whole it is
worthy to succeed baseball in the afec-
tons OF the young men of the country.
There are almost as many styles of veloci-
pedes as of four wheeled carriages, and
| they will multiply rapidly. We under
stand that there are nearly fifty patterns
| on exhibition at the Patent Office. The
| only velocipedes worth talking about are
| the two-wheeled ones. There are three
| and four wheeled machines, but of course
there is more friction to overcome in run
| ming three or four wheels than in running
| two wheels, and there is no trouble in ar
ranging for the application of the whole
! strength OF strong man to the two
wheeled machine. --
Those who favor the three or four
wheeled velocipedes, do so upon the theory
| that they will stand up better But the
| two-wheeled machine will stand up well
| enough as soon as you learn to manage it.
| When we consider that the machine will
not stand for moment by itself, and that
the disposition to tumble viii be increased
oy seating man upon 1t, this seems to be
an improbable proposition. The secrets,
of the foremost wheel, the other wheel
having nothing to do but follow and sup
port the rider and receive the pressure of
the break. The trick of riding the veloci-
pede is in guiding it. If the rider under
lakes to sustain himself by swaying his
body so as to keep the center of gravity
over the support of wheels, he will newt
ably fall The rider must put the ma
chine in motion as he mounts it. That is
done in the act of mounting by plac
ing first one foot and then the
other upon the pedals-a pretty nice ope-
ration. at the instant of mounting the
rider must grasp the handle, which has
been aptly called the "balancirg pole"
and as the machine is swayed by the pres
sure on the pedals, the front wheel must
be shifted to correspond to the irregular
ity in the application of power and the
movements of the person. Let it be I'M
derstood that as the machine goes on, if
the weight is too much to heright or left,
the guide must be used to bring the wheels
directly under the point where the weight
must be sustained. The arms and legs are
soon taught to work well together, and
the rider directs the machine with a sure
and easy touch, aud can avoid any object
in the way with wonderful CELEBRITY and
accuracy. There must be nerve enough,
comes crash. Velocipede riding and
driving-it is both-is, for the beginner,
very hard work. The strait comes upon
the arms and hands, owing to the con-
slant necessity of guiding. The legs have
an easy time, nothing more to do than
when walking, but the arms and hands
have the important duties to discharge;
and in learning the velocipede exercise it
is the rule that the hands are blistered
and the arms painfully wrenched With
experience comes confidence and compar-
alive ease, but we suspect that velocipede
riding will be found, as general thing, to
be violent exercise. The temptation is
upon the velocipede to go fast-to speed
the machine to its utmost, and every jar
of the wheels must be felt in the arms
which have to preserve the balance.
The first lesson with the machine
is to take it by the handle and walk be-
side it, pushing it along and guiding it.
One learns in this way how quickly and
entirely the machine answers to the handle
how easily and instantly it may be
wblrled this way or that. The lesson is
to bestride the machine and move it
along, touching the toes to the floor.
Hence beginners should not have the
largest velocipedes. Impelling the ma
chine by touching the toes to the floor,
the guide or handle comes in play, and
presently is seen to serve to keep up the
machine, which, however, has as many
tricks as fractions horse. The novice, to
prevent himself from falling, is certain to
turn the wheel too far, and then he
sprawls upon the floor, or runs into the
wall. A good plan is to get the machine
on an incline, and as it runs down try to
sustain it by the guiding wheel.
The mystery of managing the wheel
once mastered, the rest is easy. When
some practice in handling the machine
has been had, and its movements have be-
come familiar, the effort is made to use
the feet on the pedals. 1t is best to try at
first with but one foot. Those who at
tempt to apply both feet at once will be
many times disappointed. Now comes
the hardest of the work. The walls of We
locipede schools are SCARED and battered
with many blows, and the inclination,
when one is trying to be able to make the
thing go, to rush for the nearest pillar and
strike it with great force, is an amusing
popularity.
The velocipede once understood be-
comes surprisingly amiable. An expert
will ride on one sideways, plying the
pedals with either foot, and will direct the
machine with one hand, whirl here and
there, cutting circles like a swallow and
describing figure Fights with the swiftness
OF champion skater. Half dozen ex-
perts together will race and cross each
others tracks and accomplish great va
rlety OF eccentricities without coming in
contact; but two novlces practicing in
room one hundred feet square, would fire.
quently rush headlopg together. The dan
ger OF serious hurts is, however, not great.
even TOR beginners. 1t is not far to the
ground or the floor, and during the first
lessons great speed is not attained. A
point of danger is in getting the feet
and sometimes in falling, persons have
been hurt by striking upon the end of the
handle. If the front wheel is, from any
cause, turned suddenly at right angles to
the other, the machine will tumble, and
the rider, if awkward or exhausted, is
liable to fall upon the handle. We have
heard of one severe accident of this kind
in New York. 1t has been said, 10 describ-
ing the velocipedes used in Paris, that a
gentleman could trundle one of them along
the street as easily as he could carry cane
This is mistake. 1t is rather more
troublesome to get along with the veloci- |
pede than with wheelbarrow.
Velocipedes can not be run over our
boulder pavements, or across such cutters |
as we have in our streets. Therefore,
there need not be apprehensions that they |
will be means of locomotion about this |
city: They can be used on Nicholson |
Pavements, and on smooth tuInpikes or
dirt ROADS, in the absence of mud. It Is I
dlncult to ride them up hill. With severe
exertlon they can be driven grade of one
toot In nineteen; but one foot in twenty /
hve is enough to overcome. While the |
beginner needs low machine-one with |
q thirty three inch front wheel, or saddle |
placed low-this is according to the pat
tern-the expert wishes to sit high and |
well over the pedals. The speed a. which |
velocipedes move, of course, varies as