The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-02-19


Bicycling is the ideal exercise. With
most enjoyable sport in the world. TAX
en- in moderation il viii build up and
give a new lease OF life To the most del
icate invalid. Pursued TO excess. it viii
transform the most rugged athlete in
TO weakly invalid IL it does not cut
short his days.
mean just what | say and know
what | am talking about, for I have
tried the sport i'm every possible way.
/ have jauntily wheeled about the coun-
try, and / have been in the hardest Of
hard races. The record breaking con-
tests have been in will wear down in
time the sturdiest chap that ever ped
aled. The gentle exercise which club
men. accompanied, as they frequently
are. by their wives and sisters or some
other fellows sisters, take through the
parks or out on the fine country roads
is exhilarating, medicinal and upbuild-
ing.
Briefly. I will endeaVor TO show the
good and bad points about cycling. To
sick man / should say throw away
your medicines and get a wheel. Leave
the sick chamber and pedal gently out
into the country, where you can drink
I'm the pure air OF heaven and expand
your lungs. as well as straighten out
your fabby, shrunken muscles. You
will find this better than all the cod
liver oil and tonics the doctor can give
you.
why is bl~rcc1ing SO healthy? ! will
tell you. When YOU take ii i'm modera-
tion---say. TO 10 miles an hour-out on
decently constructed country road
you softly--yes, even tenderly-stir up
all the muscles of the lower limbs, slow
~ and carefully set the sluggish blood
i'm motion driving il from its loating
places and sending il coursing through
the body loaded with oxygen from the
fresh air with which the lungs are filled
at every breath. Then, too, the beau
tiful and ever changing landscape at
tracts the eye and affords a mental di-
version. which Will keep any one-man
or woman--from thinking Of troubles.
The great reformer, DIR. Parkhurst, once
said that no man could clip along on
bicycle at the rate of ten miles an hour
and worry much over wickedness. lie
believed il To he the best remedy for a
bad conscience short OF repentance, and
| think he is exactly right
For weak people, those who have poor
lungs. for instance. or sluggish liver or
Kidneys or bad circulation such as is
common among those of sedentary hab-
it's, like lawyers or literary men or
among those confined for many hours in
a fetid atmosphere, like dry goods
clerks. bicyling is the best medicine that
can possibly be tried. Pepsin, creosote,
quinine and all the hypophosphites
punched together can't equal IL. Six
months faithful trial of ii will heal
weak lungs, and far less time will be
required to give a man a new liver or
pair of kidneys and set his blood cours
ing healthily through his veins. a lit
tie care of course must he exercise
and certain simple rules observed. The
seeker after health must not ever pedal
to the limit of his strength. Never at
tempt to speed along faster than eight
miles an hour during the first two
months OF wheeling, and do not for the
first few weeks exercise for more than
an hour at a time. The patient should
feel stronger after his exercise than be-
fore and even have a longing to con-
tinue.
If he keeps wheeling until he gets a
tired feeling, he is hurt rather than
helped by the exercise. The wheelmaR,
too. should sit UP as straight as possi-