Bike Snob - Anonymous [2]
This in turn led to everybody’s favorite old-timey bicycle, the high-wheeler, or “penny-farthing,” which James Starley started making in England around 1870. The latter sobriquet came about because the goofy tiny rear wheel and absurdly huge front wheel looked like a small coin and a large coin next to each other, and it is a testament to Victorian tact and restraint that they did not instead call it the “boneshaker rider’s testes,” as it undoubtedly bore a strong resemblance to those as well. The frame was made of tubular steel which was much lighter than iron, the wheel used wire spokes and was much lighter as well, and, thanks to the large front wheel, riders could now go really fast—fast enough that the sport of bicycle racing was born with the high-wheeler. But this speed came at a cost: it was an impractical machine that was extremely dangerous to ride. Face-plants were the order of the day. I mean, just look at the thing! It’s completely ridiculous.
Even so, people were hooked. As wacky a contraption as the penny-farthing was, for the first time people could move themselves quickly without the aid of steam, wind, or hairy, flatulent animals. The penny-farthing was such a big deal that it lives on today, as a symbol of both the birth of cycling in particular and of Victorian-era old-timey ingenuity in general. You find pictures of them on bike shop awnings, wine bottle labels, and T-shirts, and you even occasionally see them in person underneath some of the weirdos who still ride them.
In 1878 Albert Pope started the Columbia Bicycle Company in Boston, and by 1880 all the cool people were rocking penny-farthings. But what was cycling like back then? Who were our early cycling ancestors? To find out, I read some old “newspaper” articles. If you’re unfamiliar with the newspaper, it’s something people used to read before the Internet. Basically, it was like reading a giant tablecloth, and is sort of the literary equivalent of the penny-farthing. Anyway, I learned a great deal from the newspaper. Here’s what the New York Times had to say about cycling on March 13, 1885, at the height of the penny-farthing craze:
A POPULAR LENTEN SPORT
Cycling Is Now Society Folks’ Favorite Pastime
BIG CROWDS AT THE MICHAUX RIDES
The Cycle Club of Brooklyn’s
Unique Entertainments in the
Clermont Avenue Rink—Costume Ride Planned
The Lenten season has resulted in a great boom to cycling, for society folks in this city and Brooklyn have taken up the pastime as if it were the only thing to do. A visit to Bowman’s Academy, in Broadway, near Fifty-third Street, or to the Clermont Avenue Rink, in Brooklyn, will convince one of this statement. The former place is headquarters for the members of the Michaux Cycle Club, an organization composed of wellknown society people of the metropolis. It is also open to the public during certain hours. The Cycle Club of Brooklyn is similar in many respects to the Michaux Club. Its members form Brooklyn’s most exclusive social set. They have leased the Clermont Rink outright and the general public is not admitted.
Tuesday and Friday evenings and Wednesday and Thursday afternoons the Michaux members have Bowman’s Academy to themselves. They have plain and fancy riding, and generally turn out in large numbers. Last evening the floor was crowded, and so was the spectators’ gallery. Tea is served at the afternoon sessions, and thus far these meetings have proved exceptionally popular.
During the afternoon yesterday the attendance was very