Arizona republican., 1896-05-22
NEMESIS OF THE HORSE The Bicycle as Used in
 Phoenix. Riding Is Cheaper than Walk
 ing.
An Experts Opinion on the Dlffef- ent Classes of Wheeimen-
 Chinese Pupils.

Have yen ay idea how many bi-
 cycles there are in use in Phoenix?' asked Will Rhodes, the bicycle agent,
 yesterday of a Republican reporter.
 The latter answered in the negative and his informer said that he han been
 keeping track of all the wheels regis
 tered in Phoenix and estimates tha
 number at over j, ,1D0. About two years ago MT. RhOdas said there were barely
 200 bicycles in the county, but since
 that time nearly everybody who can
 afford @ wheel are buying them. The
 craze for bicycing is by no means
 dying out, but is on the increase. There
 is. now so much competition in bicycles
 that the price of "a standard make
 wheel is only $100, whereas year agn
 the best grade of wheels were priced
 at $150 and over. Almost any one can
 now affords the luxury Of wheel by paying monthly instailments.
 There are three repair shops in the city, and the 1, 100 bicycles in use, of course, getting out of repair occasion ally, the repair man is kept
 busy. Oar. Rhodes informed the re-
 porter that the experienced rider abused a wheel much more than the
 novice, for the reason that he is mora
 careless and runs into curbstones, ditches and vehicles indiscfiminateIy
 and the wheel is made to suffer, some times the Eidergtas well. "Not a day
 passes,p, said MT. Rhodes, "but that. | fir om oHe to- five bicYclAs come into my
 shop tn ihe repaired. the bent frames and spokee, being sufficient evidence that the. wheel had come out, seconH
 best in a collision. .ss, aE ''Ffle Ievfce, as a genera. rule, finds a lonely spot WheTes. there are no ditches CT 0bstructioas and learns to ride. Many of them asl soon as they are a6le,. to noun think they have i thoroughly Inasttered the silent stee1 and with confdenee iD his ability 1 makes fer ske street, where the chances
 are nine ont of ten the wheel by a strange freak will make a dash for g. telegraph pole or a wagon and the trembling rider is wholly unable to steer clear. The result of course is that something happens. As "a gen. eral rule, thGngh. the seVeres. accidents ! happen to be eYperieneed riders" There arc sauanal classes cf riders the person who useE the wheel for a convenience, the one who finds pleas- ure Tn the bike" and .atterIy, the fiend, who is in the lead when 1t comes 1 to giving the repair stop continual work.
 The business man sits erect in the saddle and rarely travels faster than 8 i've m.le> ratie. The new beginner can be noticed sitting low on his steed and firmly clutching the handle bars, while his knees have a tendency to strike his elbows. The W,obbly condi-. ton of the bike shows that the machine 1 is guiding itself and the rder's atten- l ti5n is Solely occupied with trying to ma ntain hts equilibr.am and andeaY-. bring to give the impression that he is an expert The fend is shown in the person who is bent nearly double, with bis nose almost touching the front wheel. As @ general rule he is travel 1 Ing at ar rate that would lead a person ] to the belteR that his sole object was b catch train ten miles distant and had only tTo minutes in which to perform | the feat. 1tis the latter class that gen.
 eEally gets tangled up with an electric l car or express wagon.
 In the category of riders the bloomer l girl must not be overlooked. Of course i she is always a graceful rider, but | with her it is practically the fact that,
 the wheel is the second consideration.
 She cares more for the appearance of her boomers than the pleasure of rid | ing. Phoenix, however, is singu,ariy 1 free of the bioomer girl l To see a Chinaman riding horse is
 comparatively rare, but to see one att temp ting to ride a wheel is much
 rarer. The Chinese of this c.ty have been struck with the craze and nearly every evening four or five of the celes- tia.s congregate on Adams street in
 front of Rhods' bicycle shop where a l teacher fnstructs them how to ride EGontrary in all things, they will not
 mount like white folks, but show a
 strong inclination to climb over the front of the wheel onto the seat Their l instructor has broken them of that
 habit, but he cannot make them com prehend that they should keep their eyes ahead. They will persist in keep
 ing one eye on the crank shaft and 1 with the other keep a lookout behind
 to see that the small boys do not tie
 a tin can to their queues These Chi nese have never yet made an appear ance in public in the daytime on their
 bikes, whether through fear of a ran II storm of stones or nioIesty forbids, is not known. At any rate, John China