Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10

| The Proper HIuy TO Mount
windines of a little stream over good road
and you feel that for another such interva
of delight YOU would again gladly put ul
with rain, wind, mud.
Now a word about machines. took m,
first ride on safety last summer, and d.
not believe that ever again would be will
ing to use tricycle.. Still the tricycle. ha.
its good points, especially for the beginner
1t is easier to learn to manage it; there is ne
difficulty about mounting and dismounting
you can come to standstill whenever YOU
want to without being forced to jump off ai
orce; if you care to linger by the wavside
you have a seat ready-made, while, owing
to your position on the machine, that dread.
full dress problem is more easily solved.
Another consideration for tourists is that
there Is far more room for luggage.
Mounting safety has been thought an
| impossibility by some women. 1t is really
very simple, though not to be mastered at
once 1 would advise beginners to do as I
did and learn to ride on the road, letting
someone hold the machine while you get
on, until you thoroughly understand steer
ing and managing it it yourself Half the
difficulty OF mounting is in the steering.
How to Mount a Machine.
Once you can really ride, you mount al
most automatically-the only thing to re-
member is to have the pedals in the neces-
sary position. Stand to the left of your
safety, let the right pedal be at the top Just
| about to come down; step on it with your
right foot; this lifts you into the saddle and
starts the machine, and as the left pedal
comes up, you catch it with your left foot.
What could be simpler-until you have
| tried it!
There is one safety which is so low that
you can balance and steady yourself with
your left foot on the ground while you get
in the saddle and start the machine with the
right.
Dismounting is as easy You must slow
up little, then when the left pedal is
down, step off on the left side with your
right foot first; if Won have to Jump off
suddenly, put on the brake little, not too
much, or the sudden shock will jerk you
off
All the leading manufacturers turn out
excellent safeties for women. You must be
careful to see that there is enough space be-
tween the saddle and the handle bars or else
mounting becomes a genuine difficulty; and
it is we'll to remember that the tube, or
tubes, of the framework should make a
curve, not an angle, from the pedals toward
the front wheel. Any projecting points on
the pedals, or mounting steps between them,
as saw it placed on one machine, mean
torn dresses, dangerous accidents, as I know
to my cost. Between Cologne and Berlin,
owing to such points on my pedals, wore
one dress to tatters.
Insist on a Dress Guard
Above all, insist on having dress guard
that covers the entire upper half of the
back or driving wheel, and not merely the
mi 10
most all makers, not being women, are con-
tent The wind at all times will blow your
skirts further back than the average dress
guard extends, and then they catch in the
the spokes and you can imagine the rest. I
speak feelinglv, for nv only serious tumble
was from this cause. 1t is, after all, less
trouble to have new dress guard made
than to fall on the back of your head on a
stone pavement The guard, moreover,
should not be of leather In bad weather it
gets clogged with mud, which acts as a
brake, and to clean it there is nothing to do
but to turn the machine upside down and
loosen the mud with stick.
To speak OF the dress-guard suggests the
dress question, as important for the cycler
as for the gay society girl used to think that
the ordinary tailor-made dress would serve
all cycling purposes. And SO it did as long
as l rode a. tandem tricycle., where there is
next to no danger of skirts catching in the
wheels. But on bicycle found it was
another matter. The rags in which I ar
rived at Berlin forced me to have a new
gown made, and my husband, who was tired
of seeing ME tumble, set his wits to work
and invented what I think a perfect
cycling dress There have been other in
ventions declared perfect BY their inventors
tor example, one marvellous skirt, closed
around the bottom with a wide piece of
cloth in which there are incipient knicker-
bockers; but what, I wonder, becomes of
that piece of cloth when you sit on the
machine. Then there are skirts closed
around the feet like a bag, and number of
other ingenious devices.
The Costume for Bicycling.
But mine is the simplest of all. NV
skirt was of blue serge-this was mistake.
gray tweed would have been better-it was
made without foundation, and with deem
hem turned up on the outside and we'll Sc
cured by rows of stitching, so that there
was absolutely nothing on the inside to
catch. 1t vas the ordinary walking length,
for dislike, when ain in large town, to
have on an eccentric costume. But by
hooks around the waist-I could loop it up
so that it Just reached my ankles when L
was on the machine, and, as there was no
fullness in the back, there
was small, if any, danger of its getting
wound up in the wheel. After left Berlin.
had as little trouble withmy dress as if 1
had, like the French woman, worn knick-
erbockers
For the rest. a linen blouse, jacket to
put OH when off the machine. and felt hat
my costume. Next to the skin
wool should be worn; for riding, combina-
tions are most comfortable, and recon-
mend wool corsets They absorb the per-
spiration; mine has SO few bones that it is
never too stiff, and does not interfere with
my movements.
In this attire, with a complete change of
and q woolen night gown Ito
defy damp sheets) strapped in knapsack
(the larger bag should be sent to place
three or four days ahead by post or express) |
and on a good machine, cycling is a keen
JOY, and the woman who has once tried it
will never again travel by train for pleas