The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-10
CYCLISTS RIDE AND CHAT.
SUNSHINE TODAY rs WHAT THEF
All ZINC ron.

AHE ALL PHH IINV FOR.
Co-pIs,nts OF the Fiekio weather er May
Debt OF wbeeiyvomen 20 = wou,sn Named
smith -New Uses OF the whesi-A Flood
OF Hnvsrtioss- Cyciing Salts for Mes.
The cyclists have been doing a good deal Of
wondering this week. They arc great people
to plan ahead. and usually by Wednesday they
have made all arrangements for the browning
event OF each week-the Sunday run. They
didn't know what TO do this week. May stole
. march on them and fooled them most bean.
tifully with some OF April's best tricks in the
way OF a few soaking showers.
But you can't count on months any more
than you can on women" said 4. gray.haired
enthusiast, q man, OF course, who was caught
on the road In q liaht summer cycling suit by
one Of those hard. gully washing. trash-mov.
ing ahowers on Tuesday.
He was about right, and when Il continued
"a rain on and on until almost night hundreds
Of the most expert weather prophets In the
ranks Of the wheeling army thought 90, tou.
Many of them said that II had set in for q
whole weeks rain. and that II would DO q
regular epring soaker. But they were wrong.
Tor tho next morning the sun was out bright
and early. and . party Of young women who
went out over the Merrick road, which Ie one
OF the finest runs around hero, declared that
the weather was 30 exactly right that they
wheeled ono way, when the wind was at their
backs. a~lmost-almost. mind you-without
pedallinR. Tho army took courage again, and
many plans for worshippinR with nature and
leaving the preachers to preach to empty pows
were made.
Tho procrastinating cyclists. however, did
. very foolish thing. They held of for an
other day TO see what the weather was going
70 do. and they got q surprise party, for on
Thursday the willy May stole one of March's
trump cards and the wind did cut up high
links with the new leaves and foliage and with
tho short skirts of the bicycle girls. 1t swept
up end down tho boulevard and through the
Park with chilly persistency. driving hundreds
Of mon and women into tho academies. The
procrastipators procrastinated some more.
saying that they could tell better on Friday
what tho weather would do. Not a bit of IL.
Even Farmer Dunn must have been nonplussed
when he got out of his bed and saw the May
sky overcast with heavy, gray November clouds
that looked az II they might have been left
over from one of the Rloomiest days OF last fall.
BY this time the week was waning, and the
putters-off did the only sensible thing that
there was to do. They decided on the runs
that they would mako Sunday any way. II the
sun beamed kindly on them.
II the sun does beam on Sunday. II is safe to
say that more people on wheels will make for
tho ferries than ever before in tho history of
this city for the bicycle schools have turned
out ar enormous number OF graduates this
week. and as they are afraid to ride in town
on Sundays they will HE themselves to the
country, whore they can find great stretches
Of fine road and ten.ecre fields to cavort around
in without fear of being smashed into smith
Greens by cable cars or completely surrounded
by wheels or crushed by swell turnouts. hired
traps. or horseless carriages.
One thing that the variable weather of this
week has done is tn bring the cyclists more to-
gether in the academies as in the old days. and
give them q chance to talk. and they enjoyed
the chance. too. The circle In q very popular
academy on the Boulevard was GRO wded the
other afternoon, and. strange to ray, all of the
riders were women. with the exception Of four.
two men and two children. They were all
having a big time, and the orchestra over in
the corner was playing the couchee couchee in
It's hest style. Finally. about a dozen men and
women in wheeling costumes came IN. having
ali members of a little club. and intended to
finish their afternoon spin indoors, but they
that, so they concluded to do the next best
thing in the minds OF all right-thinking cy:
el;sts; and that is TO talk about wheels and
,"Do look a. that array of 10: p frames in the
s siiiii Of .bort skIrts pun" !!T6 EeIt M mu ase b mO AZ
least seventy iv" wheels on the floor, and all
for women,' said an elderly woman.
You mean another Evidence Of What wo.
SSiese's "wom sS,'hhs has made tie !a9SHH, % goa ali
tlrely To men OF the horse jockey and cut-throat
"Never!' exclaimed n slip Of a girl. why.
how UT Eidi lou o%s Tho INCEST kind of men used
Tut, tut. tut : viii. do interrupted
her father. for he saw that an uneyen-tem-
s ps,en "t Is witch W the % %rs"sns or. ana 4 couple ss SS Of
younger men .nudged each other disappoint-
sdly. for they Wers Just settling themselves
Speaking of so many loop frames" con-
tinued the old man. can you ali realize that
ten years ears ago o there Were no bicycles for wo-
lit can't be possible" said some one. land
being turned out every minute of the day"
Yes. It's perfectly true" resumed the old
for the II Not that a ~S woman 10 r saapS
Invented it: oh. dear me. no. for women
b haven't %ns an m Wom inysP ide%a Ss@Ri6n wins; y YOU, fhn .g n.S SSt
Just plain. good. old-fashion ID smith.
nr oh 6Sn't Ma knG" Her hsF trS5 name w0 but i was e
Smith. and his wife saw how no enjoyed hi.
safety. and after examining it very carefully.
h,s ba j as that EVEN; Sec 1sarS' s ,%HI%Sf TEere Is
one This was in 'ss, and smith knew what
Inht cAh no NuCN LHht "HtH any woman
wanted anything she must haze IL. 20 he set to
work and invented the drop frame bicycle.
Such u thing as q light machine had not been
heard of then. Bear In mind that this wns
only about eight years aHu. And the first wheel
that smith turned out Tor his wlfo weighed
guess what"
Thirty pounds" guessed ono woman.
'Thirty-lvo," came from another.
"Thirty-three an. a third. I'll guess that
for luck" ,ventured young girl, and a mans
I'm wager thstf vas at least a forty. i've
FOUNDER"
the old man with u chuckle Of enjoyment at
the EXPLANATIONS Of horror that ioliow ed.
''And poor little Mrs. Smith tipped the beam
at twenty pounds more. Even IL Mr.. Smith
had known anything about light wheels he
wouldn't have thought OF putting his wife on
one, Tor every Dan would have agreed with
linn that women would never be skilled
enough 10 manage light machines"
feminine voice. II guess they've changed
their tune by this time. Why, The very idea!
It's "a conceded point that the average woman
rides better. a. least that she looks better,
- - .,k-a.1 wkan Nln --.