Morning journal and courier., 1893-06-06
Cycling fer Women.


[Dr. W. B. Richardson In the AscIepiad.J
In many essays and papers I have dwelt
on the effects of cycling on female riders.
refer to the subject again now because
the interest in it-if may judge from the
many anxious communications made to me
about it-increasee, although 1 doubt
whether the number of lady riders increas-
es propertionately. Tho frst question
that is usually put on this topic Is the kind
of cycle that Is best suited for ladies', the
bicycle or the tricycle.. At one time the
answer In the affirmative was with the tri-
cycle; now, I think, It lies decidedly with
the bicycle. Bicycles are brought TO such
perfection, they are SO low, they ran with
so little friction, they are mounted so
readily, and are 90 graceful as machines,
they hold unquestionably the FIRST place.
1t is easy also to learn to ride them when
the learner Is properly taught from the
first, and 1t has seemed to me that the art
of getting the balanoe-which In the prime,
than the man. The readiness with which
ladies' mount and dismount is quite lsa-
son In ease and graoefulness, especially on
those machines which are provided with q
seat in lieu of Q saddle. There is another
and important advantage in the bicycle
namely, that in riding It there is less VI
bration than from the tricycle.; indeed,
when the machine is well fitted with the
pneumatio tins, vibration is practically ex-
oluded. Lastly, the dress is better ar
ranged on the bicycle than the tricycle.;
there is less risk of the folds of the dress
being caught in the wheels, and less resis-
tsnoe from the wind.
A second question relates to the amount
of exercise that women can take in cycling.
This is q question very difficult 10 answer,
owing to differences of training, practice,
age and constitutional peoulisrities. Some
women are more fatigusd by ten miles cy
cling than others are by fifty. The golden
rule in this matter is to let sense of fatigue
govern the amount OF work done. OF one
thing am most certain; that as among
Is1 men there q, sts is nothing b. everything
30 the fact is etill more manifest in wo-
men, and that 1t Ia the safest of safe pro-
cedures for q woman never to carry her
work on the cycle to q degree of fatigue
calling for more than one good nights rest
for recuperation. Altogether, am Of
opinion that twenty Ave miles q day Ia q
thoroughly good days ride for even an &C
complished female rider on q moderately
fair, ordinary road. It is good for wo-
men, as It Is for men, to dismount occs-
sionally and walk, and 1t is always good
for them to do SO when they are climbing
long and steep hills. The change of move
ment brings new sets of muscles into play,
and saves strain on the muscles of respi-
ration.
A third question has reference to the age
at which girls and young women should
commence to cycle. / am inclined to the
view that for children of either sex much
cycling ia not good. While the body is
rapidly developing 1t is easy TO produce
distortion of trunk or limb by any forced
and constrained position, and the skele-
ton runs extreme risks until 1t has at
tanned certain fair degree of frmness of
structure. Girls should not begin to ride
regularly until they have reached their
seventeenth year, and not then unless they
are strong and we'll formed. In training,
and ever afterwards, they should be taught
to cit straight up on the seat or saddle,
and always to have the dress perfectly free
around the waist and chest. The ankles
ought also to be free, and the dress suff-
ciently short to prevent embarrassment TO
the movement of the feet. I can have no
hesitation as to the kind of seat that
should be used by women; the cushion
seat Is infinitely preferable to the saddle.
One more among many other questions
must be briefly noticed; mean whether
there Is anything. anatemioally or consti
tutionally, in the woman that specially in
cludes cycling as Q recreation for her.
There Is nothing more In this respect than
In respect to horse-riding. Every compe-
tent medical man Is able to discover and
explain some states and conditions in
which 1t were best for the woman to ride
neither q cycle nor a horse; but all condi
tions being normal, women can indulge in
the exercise just as safely as men. 1t is
indeed of great use to healthy women for
them to cycle. 1t secures q quick and
sure cultivation of the senses; IL leads to a
good and healthy muscular exercise; It
causes fine expansion of the breathing;
1t causes the lungs to inhsle pure air; 1t
quickens the circulation; and 1t brings to
the mind free and wholesome change of
scene, which is a tonic of tonics to the de-
preston incident to sedentsry monotony