The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1869-02-02
The Yoloeipede.

tainly it is one of the funniest queerest and |
mountaineering machines that has been in. |
vented and upon the whole ii is worthy to |
succeed base ball in the affection Of the |
young men Of the country. There are al |
most as many styles Of velocipedes as of
four.whesled carriages and they will multi
ply rapidly. We understand that there are
nearly Fifty patterns on exhibition at the |
Patent Office. The only velocipedes worth |
talking about are the two.wheeed ones. |
There are three and fonr.wheeled machines, |
but of course there is more friction to over.
come III running three Or four wheels than |
in running two wheels, and there is no
trouble in arranging for the application Of
the whole strength Of a strong man to the
two.wheeled machine.
Those who favor the three or fourwheeled
yelocipedes, do 30 upon the theory that they
will stand up better. But the two.wheeled
machine will stand up well enough as soon
as you leGrl 10 manage il. When we con.
slider that the machine will not stand Tor
moment by itself, and that the disposition to
tumble will be increased BY seating a man
upon 1t, this seems 10 be an improbable
proposition. The secret is, that the ma.
chine is kept up by the shifting Of the fore.
most wheel; the other wheel having nothing
to do but follow and support the rider, and
| receive the pressure Of the break. The
trick Of riding the velocipede is in guiding
| it, If the rider undertakes TO sustain him
self by swaying his body 80 rs to keep the
center Of gravity over the support Of wheels
he will inevitably fall, The rider must put
the machine in motion as he mounts it..
| That is done in the act of mounting by
| placing first one foot and then the other up.
on the pedals--a pretty nice operation. At
the instant Of mounting, the rider must
grasp the handle, which has been aptly call.
ed the "balancing POLE and as the machine
| is swayed by the pressure on the pedals, the
| front wheels must be shifted to corresond to
the irregulsrity in the application Of power
and the movements OF the person. Let il be
understood that as the machine goes on, if
the weight is too much to the right or left,
the guide must be used to bring the wheels
| directly under the point where weight must
be sustained. The arms and legs are soon
taught to work well together, and the rider
| directs the mCchinG with sure and easy
touch, and can avoid any object in the
way with wonderful celebrity and accuracy
There must be nerve enough, however, not
to hesitate. With hesitation comes crash.
Nelocipede riding and driving--it is both
is, for the beginner, very hard work. The
strain comes upon the arms and hands, ow.
| ing to the constant necessity of guiding.
! The legs have an easy time, nothing more
to do than when walking, but the arms and
hands have the important dHties to dis.
charge and in learning the yelocipede ex.
ercise it is the rule that the hands are bis
tered aud the arms painfully wrenched .
! With experience comes confidence and
comparative ease, but we suspect that veloc.
pede riding will be found, ~ a general thing,
| TO be violent exercise. The temptation ia
upon the yelocipede TO 20 tast--to speed
| the machine 20 rt4 utmost, and every Jar
Of the wheels must be felt in the arms which
! have to preserve the b"inuCc. The first les.
son with tho machine IS to take 1t by the
| handle and walk beside it, pushing it along
| aud guiding il. Que learns in this way how
quickly and entirely the machine answers to
the hsudic--how easily and instantly it may
be whlrIed this way or that. The next lesson
is to bestride the machine and move it along,
touching the toes to the floor. Hence be.
giuners should not have the largest veoci
pedes, Impelhng the machine by touching
the toes to the floor, the guide or handle
comes in play, and presently is seen to serVe
10 keep up the machine, which however, has
as many tricks as q fractions horse. The
novice, to prevent himself from falling, is
certain to turn the wheel too far, and then
, he sprswls upo4 .loor, or runs into the wall.
A good plan ia to get the machine on an in.
e cline, and as ii 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 become 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 attempt to apply both feet at
once will be many times disappointed. Now
comes the hardest Of the work The walls
of veocipede schools are SCARED and batter
ed with many blows, and the inclination,
when one is trying to be able to make the
thing 60, to rush for the nearest pillar and
strike it with great force, is an amusing pc.
} culiarity.
The velocipede once understood becomes
surprisingly amiable. An expert will ride
on one sideways, playing the pedals with ej.
Their foot, and will direct the machine with
one hand, whir here and there, cutting cir
cles like a swallow,and describe figure Fights
with the swiftness Of champion skater
Halt dozen experts together will race and
cross each others tracks and accomplish 4
great variety of eccentricities without com.
ing in contact; but two novices prscticinE
IN room one hundred feet square, would
frequently rush hesdloug together. The
danger of serious hurts is, however not great,
even for beginners, 1t is not far to the
ground or the floor, and during the FIRST les
sons great speed is not attained. A point
OF danger is in getting the feet caught be
tween the pedals and wheel, and sometimes
III falling persons have been hurt by striking
upon the end Of the handle. II the front
wheel Is, from any cause, turned suddenly at
right angles to the other, the machine will
tumble, and the rider, if awkwark or exhaust.
cd, is liable to fall upon the handle. We
have heard OF one severe accident Of this
kind in New York. 1t has been said, in
describing the velocipedes used in Paris. that
q gentleman could trundIe one ofthem along
the street a. easily as he could carry a cane.
This is q mistake. 1t is rather more trouble.
some to get along with the volocipede than
with wheelbRrrow.
| Velocipedes cannot be run over our boul-
] der psvemsntS, or across such cutters a. We