Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-05-11
BICYCLE POPULAR FOR
HEALTH AND SPORT
Demands for Bicycles Heavy
And Indications Are Many
Sales Will Be Made.

The days Of real sport! How the
hearts Of men tingle with pleasure
when they bark back, say 20 years ago
to the days when they, too, bowled
along with the wings of the wind on
their trusty old "bikes!"
Will you ever forget that memorable
morning when you wheeled that glis-
tening new. Columbia. or Crescent, or
Cleveland. or Rambler, or Barnes
white Flyer'-or whatever it may
have been--out for the first glorious
spin over the bounding roads?
More than one million bicycles were
manufactured last year and the riders
of today are every bit as enthusiastic
and proud of their mounts as you used
to be. And. as rule, they're getting
good deal more out of their invest
ment.
Twenty years ago the bicycle was
at the height of it's glory and popular
ity. Nearly everybody rode a wheel"
1t seemed. 1t. was more of universal
proposition than any other kind Of
vehicle-much more than the automo-
bile or the motorcycle, which stole
many of it's devotees away and caused
slump for a time.
But the bicycle had been too we'll
established and its utility too clearly
demonstrated for it to go out of use
The maret for it has always been
steady and consistent.
The fact is, in recent years there
has been a considerable revival of it's
popularity. During last year, for ex-
ample, bicycle sales almost doubled
and the utility of the machine was ex-
banded along number of new lines.
There were nearly 10000 bicycles in
actual service with the A. F.. +. in
france. Many deeds of heroism stand
to the credit of the bicycle corps which
rendered such exceptional service In
maintaining the lines of communica-
ton under fire.
Many new usese have been found
for the bicycle in business life At a
matter of fact, people have just been
waking up to it's possibilities as a
practical and economical means Of To- |
comotion. Congested conditions. poor
transportation service, the long dis |
tances in cities, are problems which |
the cyclist loses little sleep over.
Vast sums of money have been ex-
pended upon good roads. These new
arteries of commerce are opening up |
a vast field for the motor truck ex-
press and other transportation enter
prises-and incidentally extending the
range of the bicycle to degrees un-
heard Of in the old days.
The revival of Century runs" IN
various parts of the country is an in
dication of the cyclists appreciation ,
of their new opportunities in this d.
rection. And by the way, bicycle rae
ing is again coming into wide popular
fly.
No question about 1.-THE bicycle is
coming into It's own again. It's fine
record in the war, it's many sided util-
ity in modern business, its wonderful
influence for health, coupled with It's
undoubted economy and convenience
all have combined to make it even
more desirable than before.
Our bicycle tire sales" says A. P. |
Tyler local Firestone dealer, ''have |
surprised our entire organization. For |
the last three or four months, they |
have been almost double the sales of
the same months a year ago. In |
fact the Firestone "Non- Sxids" are in |
such demand that we have had to en-
large our facilities considerably to |
keep pace with it,
II look for a big year for the BIZ
cycle trade generally. II is not hard |
TO figure out why the bicycle is again I
becoming popular. 1t meets a dis
tinct need in our modern life-as the |
only really practical self-propelled We
hicle. In proportion to the invest |
ment, it's returns are maximum in con-
veniehce, economy of operation. and |
useful service-not overlooking the
rare opportunities for healthful exer-
else and recreation 1t affords"