Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-16
CYCLING IN EUROPE.
Some Good Advice from an Expert I'm
Touring.
WHAT PREPARATIONS ARE NEEDED-ENGIlsH
CUsToMs-How AMERICANS MAY LIVE EcoxoNr-
CAI-LY on THE RoAD-wHEEIISG on THE con-
TINrNT-FRENCH HOTELS AND CAFES

may be the person who wishes TO indulge the
desire is eccentric and eager TO make a show of
himself. Ii may be economy which prompts
him TO leave a railway carriage and foot il. 1t
may be because he imagines il TO be English.
you know" though let me assure him that this
is one of the many myths about the English.
Englishmen as a rule are not great cycling tour
lists. More Americans. comparatively, have
toured in England and on the continent than
Englishmen themselves, and the number is in
creasing daily. Or il may be that the tourist
wishes to see the country in the only way il can
be properly seen: and THIS is probably why in
the winter and the spring so many Americans
write TO me, as the representative in England of
the league of American wheelmen. and ask for
information about roads and routes.
presume this last to be the real reason for
the growth of independent travelling. and |
leave ont OF consideration all walking tours.
because. after having walked in one year 500
miles and cycled nearly as many thousand. l
feel justified in saying that walking Is not for
moment to be compared with cycling. may
some day compare these two modes of travel
ing. but just now this is not my purpose. What
L say about cycling applies equally well to rid
ing and driving. though of course You cannot
ride or drive continuously the same number of
miles you can cycle. l can very well remem-
Der the state of dense ignorance concerning
the means of independent travelling in Europe,
IN which was six years ago. as well as the
almost utter impossibility Of obtaining any
definite information. Six years. every one of
which has seen at least one tour. have how
ever, gwen me some little experience.
WHAT Is NEEDED.
If Won are a rider of an American cycle, of
course 1t will be necessary to bring your machine
with you. Ask the steamship authorities
whether to crate it or not If it is a bicycle.
and you carry II without Grating. they NAV
charge nothing. There is no duty on entering
Engiand but if You ride an English machine |
should advise you to sell your present mount
and make arrangements either with the
dealer you know III America or the firm itself
III England. giving them three or four months
to get YOUR machine ready and to have il wait
ing You at their agents in Liverpool. South
ampton or Glasgow, wherever You NAV
land. Tell the makers what sort of a tour Won
propose taking. and you will probably find that
they will understand your needs better than
you. IL. however. You are confident YOU
know exactly what You want you may be able
To make suggestions.
IN ENGLAND.
In riding, keep 20 the left Englishmen differ
ing lii this. as in many other respects. from
all creation. Do not ride ON the side paths or
yOu will be promptly arrested. 1t is useless to
expect any cycler you meet 20 be more civil TO
you than the driver OF any other CONVEYANCE
Cycling clubs i'll England are not what they
are III America or on the Continent. There
fore you need not look for anv of those atten-
tiOns bestowed upon the touring cvcer at
home. though You may encounter some very
delightful fellows. OF course. it is a very good
thing 10 have letters of introduction.
At noon. Ill any save the large towns and on
market days. you will not be able 10 get hot
dinner without waiting long time. But Won
will probably find excellent cold roast beef or
you can eat a succession of lunches of bread
and cheese and drink modicum of bitter ale
called beer. NV practice is never to eat much
in the middle of the day when touring The
succession of small lunches and short rests is
better than single long one. Coffee taverns-
that Is. temperance houses-may be found
everywhere. but they range from very good TO
very bad. and yon had better investigate them
before deciding TO stay overnight. 1t is I'M
necessary and quite useless TO bargain for any
thing IN England. Your lunch will cost from
sixpence to two shillngs. and YOU should give
the waiter penny for every shilling. You will
have to order your dinner in the evening in the
majority OF places. and III the small towns it is
wiser to have what is called meat tea" that
is, a chop or steak. one or two vegetables
jam and tea: Or else a cold supper, that is. cold
meat or fowl salad. tart and cheese.
If you arrive wet you will find it possible to
have your clothes dried. and very well too. as
innkeepers in England rather expect 10 have to
perform this duty. In fact YOU may receive
MANY little attentions which are very pleasing.
and there is a coy. homelike feeling about am
English inn which one finds nowhere else. 1t
is not necessary TO intlict the fact that Won are
an American upon everybody YOU meet; they
have seen Americans before. and they probably
knew it before you opened your mouth have
seen ii stated and limited that one can obtain a
room in an English inn or hotel for sixpence or
ninepence night. This is, of course. absurd.
You can. if you go to house with the sign
accommodation for travellers: beds. sixpence
a night" In the same way. III America, You
can go to station-house for nothing or TO a
tIsmps lodging-house for almost as little. 1t
ID necessary to count upon spending about
shillings or - day for touring in England:
but 1T is possible TO do il for half that amount.
though not comfortably or decently. Even
this is moderate figure, and is less than the
I. Il. {. rate.
l have presumed that you are a practical
cycler. and therefore that YOU will carry what
ever you are III the habit of taking with YOU az
home. or will send your baggage from one
place to another as you do there. In England
II Is wiser TO use the parcels post as the ez-
press is very unreliable. Personally. either
ride a safety or tandem tricycle.. and. whether
alone or with my wife. always carry every thing
We want on the machine. We are consequently
perfectly independent, and have been out for
six weeks at a time.
On leaving England for the continent unless
money is absolutely no object. You must go to
France by Dieppe. Havre or 81. Malo. BY
Calais or Boulogne the charges eNtorton-
ate. and you will have to pay in the custom
houses. The greater part of Belgium is paved
with Belgian blocks. over which you cannot
ride. To Holland you can go by way of Amster-
dam. and believe the riding is fairly good
over the brick roads, but have never been
there. The principal attractions in NORWAY
seem to be the cheapness and the scenery, and
for both you have to walk about as much as
you ride, which is not my idea of cycling. ANY
how. it cannot be compared TO Switzerland,
and the reason it is so much talked about in
English cycling papers is because it is a fine
ot-hunting ground for racing men.
OF Spain l am entirely ignorant. and the |
accounts of this country all contradict each |
other with the most wonderful unanimity. No
reliable data of the roads nave vet been OBJ |
tanned. / hope to go over them myself before /
long. But in the first place. TO visit any for |
eign country you must understand something |
of the language, the more the better.
IN FRANCE.
But let us suppose that you intend to ride 4
away from the station at Dieppe. You are |
hungry. having been landed there at o'clock |
in the morning. Have your coffee in any cafe |
on the Place, or in the very expensive one in /
you want to live inexpensively, you must re-
member the customs of the country. In the /
station you never see a Frenchnan, and on one !
occasion paid francs and % centimes for |
the privilege of hpving a pot of coffee and |
rolls and butter there. The next time / went /
to a cafe in the street leading from the pier to
the Place. 1t full of towns-people. was |
more gorgeous, the coffee was equally good, |
and paid IS centimes. Why / should paw a |
franc and half for having my coffee on the |