The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-01
Coming Revival of
Cycling for Women

n HE word is now that cycling is be-
r ginning to be the vogue again.

ginning to be the vogue again.
= With a few who understood its
benefits and pleasures it never went
out. One of Americas leading million
aires, Archie Huntington, nephew and
heir of Coils p. has continued to be
devoted to the bicycle in defiance of
fashion. His beautiful young wife is as
fond of it as he is and the two together
make frequent trips awheel.
In the interest of feminine health and
beauty culture let us be glad of the re-
instatement of the bicycle in popular
favor. For promoting the type of fe
male beauty which is now the ideal
hardly anything is equal to the cycle,
probably not even golf. Fifty years
ago the consumptive type of womanly
beauty was the favorite. That has
quite gone out, and the strong, noble
Venus of Milo, Winged Victory style of
girl is the fashion. happily for the flu
ture of the American race.
To develop the present fashion in
beauty health is the first essential, and
to get that active outdoor exercise. and
plenty of it, is the means. Cycling
strengthens a weak heart. If girls
heart thumps wildly when she attempts
to cycle uphill its muscles are lax and
want toning up. If she continues the
exercise moderately, not violently, these
{ muscles Will DeCOiilC 50 SNfOiS lncS VIII
send great floods of warm, rich blood
to her cheeks and all her muscles. Good
wind is an absolute necessity to sue
cessful cycling. Brisk pedaling makes
the lungs demand more and more air
to purify the blood as it comes faster
and faster through the veins to get
great drinks of oxygen. Royal trainer
of eve. ear and nerve it is too. Every
sense must be alert. One must watch
the track ahead like a hawk to keep
from running over dogs and babies;
one must snatch lightning glances at
flying crossroads TO keep from being
run over. Then, too. to be a successful
cycer one must dress loosely and COM
fortably as to the feet and waist.
To sum up the physical benefits of
cycling. the hearts action is immensely
strengthened. the lungs expand, giving
the full chest demanded in the present
beauty cult, the muscles of the lower
limbs increase in size and power. eye
and ear are trained to constant alert
ness, and the nerves become steady
and strong. These physical acquisi-
lions are the very ones women young
and old most need.
When it comes to the effect on the
mind of this skimming like bird Ger
Hill and dale, then cycling rises into the
realm of poetry. No amusement ever
invented gives the exhilara ton, the
positive exaltation, that thrills the soul
speeding through the country upon a
! flying bicycle. Do you grow weary
You stop and rest at will. Does a patch
of rare flowers, a glorious landscape,
attract you? Off and enjoy. You are
| free. You are glad just to be alive.
All the woes, the pains, of your conven-
| tional life you have left behind you.
You have dropped them and fled away
| from them when you mounted the fly
ing steel steed. Happy? This is joy.
This is real life as God meant it to be,
especially if you have one or two of
your dearest and best to enjoy it with
you.
Inventors did not stop making inn
provements on the bicycle when it went
| temporarily out. They kept on, though
woman stopped wheeling. Now the
| lady who goes in for it again will find
waiting for her a chainless machine
with a cushion frame, coaster brake
and spring forks. The niggling jar an
noying to some riders of the old ma
chine is less perceptible in the new one,
while it runs so easily that a woman of
! average strength and endurance will
find no trouble in travelling sixty miles
a day.
We can't all have automobiles-at
least not just yet-but there is still our
good old open air friend the bicycle.
MARY GOULD LYLE.