The age-herald., 1898-11-19
A BICYCLE TOUR
 THROUGH MEXICO Newspaper Correspondent Makes
 a Tour OF THE FERTILE REPUBLIC Women Do Not Ride-It is Not Good Form for a Girl to Wear the Short Cycling Skirt-Dress
 ofthe Mexican Dude.
OF THE FERTILE REPUBLIC

| City of Mexico November 1S.-Down here | in Mexico, where an era of progressive | ness seems to have set in, the bicycle has | become almost as popular as it is with us. | In the larger cities of Mexico one sees all kinds of wheels in the streets, used for | pleasure and various utilitarian purposes, the same as here. There is one important difference, however, in that practically no Mexican women ride bicycles.
 When a wheelwoman is encountered in
 Mexico she is almost sure to be Amer ican. All citizens of the United States are called Americans in Mexico as they are in Canada. It is considered slangy by many to use the term Yankee
 The reason Mexican women do not ride bicycles is the moral wall that is built around women in our sister republic The senorita is guarded at all moments by her duenna. She is not allowed to move one step unattended, and her apparel is such as to hide her identity and to make ease of action or freedom of limb impossible. Hence she does not ride horse, indulge in outdoor sports or enjoy the recreations of girls of more advanced nations, and, of course the bicycle is beyond her reach. It | will take generations before the Mexican I girl is freed from her bonds.
 | There are no bicycle factories in Mexico. | The wheels used there are nearly all of | American make. The prominent name l plates seen on the boulevards are also on | view in Mexican cities. The machines are | sent across the border in parts and assem- | bled in Mexico, it being cheaper to import | the parts than the finished bicycle, because l of the discrepancy in the Mexican tariff | laws.
 | In the City of Mexico good wheeling l roads are plentiful, and cycling is the popu- 1 lar pastine. There are several successful | wheelmen's clubs there, the most promi- l nent being the Mexican Club Cyclista, all l organization of wealthy young men. The uniform of this club, worn on state 1 occasions, is the picturesque costume of 1 the Mexican vaquero, exaggerated in ele- gance and color. It makes an effective and striking pictur, and when the entire club l turns out attired a spectacular aspect is | given to the wheelmen which is novel and pleasing to the onlooker Otherwise the I clothes worn by Mexicans a-wheel are not | particularly attractive. Our golfng trous- CTS and knickerbockers are seldom seen. l Long trousers, fastened with straps or bits | of string at the bottoms are staples. Several interesting tours in the vicinity of | the City of Mexico are available for the l cyclists. The most remarkable of these Is the trip up the mountain, twenty-two m. .Ies | to the monastery, the oldest institution Of i the kind in Mexico. The road is a steady l climb twisting in a snakelike course up | the mountain and passing through two old | brigand villages. One of these, San Lo- i renzo, was feared and avoided by peaceful l Mexicans in days gone by. Travellers to | the monastery never went through it in | those times, but made detour of many | miles to arrive at their destination safely. The going to the monastery is hard work, l but the coming back is exhilarating in the l extreme. It is a coast all the way home, l and no brake exists that can hold the
 | wheel in perfect control.
 | With the ordinary lever brake the arm l would become paralyZed before the trip | were half over. The Mexicans overcome | this condition in novel way. They cut | small saphng, or a branch of a larger | tree, and, tying it to the seat post, use it as a drag. This implement serves to ibid | the bicycle in check sufficiently to enable | the rider to make the sharp turns without danger of plunging over the steep banks. At that, the brake is often called into play. The favorite long run for those who like | easy riding is from the City of Mexico to Pueblos de los Angeles, about sixty miles away The road is good and fairly level, and runs through some of the most fertile sections of the republic. It is considered the finest highway of Mexico, and is main- tained in splendid condition by the authori- ties.
 What the Bois de Bouogne is to Parisian cyclists, the Coney Island cycle path to
 Brooklynites and the Riverside Drive to New Workers, so is the Paseo to the wheel
 men of the City of Mexico. It is the swell drive of the Mexican capital boulevard
 between five and six miles long. leading to Chapultepec OHill of Grasshoppers) l. At regular intervals there are eight glori- ettas in the center of this beautiful road way. These gloriettas circular gardens around which the road curves on either side. In the center of each glorietta is a heroic statue of some one dear to the Mex ican heart. In the first of them, after leav- ing the city, stands the statue of Gaute-
 motzin, the last of the Aztec emperors Everybody goes to the Paseo on Sunday afternoons. It is the main artery of life in the capital that day. Crowds watch the constant procession of pleasure vehicles and bicyclists going in both directions and | enjoy the kaeidoscopic color effect made | by the varied and extravagant Mexican | costumes Here and there an American or English victoria or landau is seen, drawn | by four mules and driven by Mexican | ''coachman," attired in all the glory of | bulfighter.
 | Mexicans do not lack for good roads, ex- cept in few remote localities. The mer- | chants of that country agree that the wheel | will soon come into such general use there | that 1t will pay to manufacture bicycles in l Mexico in the near future
 How She Got It