The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-12

drawn, nearer and nearer to the ground.
The curve in which the
hoop rolls becomes smaller ana smaiIer,
because the angle at which 1t incllnes
increases as the Roadway dies out. There
fore the part that comes in contact
with the ground keeps shifting away
from the periphery, which would trace
a straight line to the side which would
trace a circle equal to the diameter OF
the hoop The path of the hoop, there
fore, begins with a straight line and then
turns into spiral, which grows smaller
with each turn, and finally ends In cir
Gle not much larger than the hoop itself.
Any one who is at all observing can no
tice that the time required for the hoop
larger than that for the one that is al
lowed to fall over while standing still.
The difference in the time in the two cases
will depend wholly upon the velocity.
If the hoop is rolled or very gently
it will drop on it's side very soon, but
II IL is given a good start it will run
around for some time. This is simply
because in the latter case the Roadway
is much greater, and as this counteracts
the effect of the force OF gravity, the lat
ter cannot succeed in drawing the hoop
down to the ground until the force of the
Roadway has died out.
What is true of a hoop is true of a
bicycle, and as a high velocity keeps
the former upright for a greater length
of time than a slow motion, so it does the
latter. This is the reason why it is easier
fast than when running slow.
At sufficiently high velocity a bicycle
could be kept in the upright position for
a considerable length of time without
ing the wheel sideways, but at a slow
speed this could not be done One of the
most difficult feats of balancing that can
be done on wheel is to keep it upright
while standing still, with both wheels in
line.
Those who have seen professional trick
riders must have noticed that whenever
they perform on bicycle that is not in
motion, the front wheel is not in line
with the hind one, but is turned at a con-
siderable angle. This greatly simplifies
ways; one is that when the front wheel
is turned around at an angles it increases
the width of the base upon which the BIZ
cycle rests, for the simple reason that the
length of ground covered by the wheel
lengthwise is much more than sidewise
The principal advantage of turning the
wheel around, however, is that when IN
that position it can be rolled back and
forth slightly as occasion may require 20
maintain the balance. If the rider feels
that he is beginning to tip over to the right
a very slight pressure on one of the pedals
will move the wheels sufficiently to send
the front one far enough to the right to
check the tipping-oVer tendency. If the
weight inclines to the left, small move
ment of the corresponding pedal will re-
store the equilibrium. In this
way the bicycle can be kept
balanced for a long time without
in the figure he could not regain an
equilibrium, as it would be impossible to
throw the body far enough in the oppo-
site direction for that purpose, This
fact alone shows that it would be neces-
sary to act with great promptness, ana
endeavor to restore the balance Just as
soon as the inclination to one side became
noticeable. In the effort to regain the bal
ance by throwing the body forward the
opposite side to that to which the wheel
was tipping 1t would be more than prob
able that the weight would be thrown
too far, and this would render necessary
a quick movement in the contrary direc-
ton The effect of all this would be that
the graceful motion of bicycle riders
would be converted into a series of con-
tortions that would resemble the per-
Torrance of a professional India rubber
man. And even with all these ungainIy
movements the balance could not be main
tanned for more than a few seconds ex-
cept by one who had acquired the art by
long practice. The most difficult thing a
bicycle rider can do, outside of trick rid
ing, is to ride chalk line. If any one
doubts this let him try to follow a
wagon wheel track, and he will very soon
realize that it Is not an easy thing to do
The speed OF the bicycle will not keen
II from tipping over If the wheel is kent
on a straight line. The speed prevents
IT from falling over as easily as it would
If standing still, and that is all 1t does do.