Читать книгу Bicycling for Ladies. The Common Sense of Bicycling; with Hints as to the Art of Wheeling—Advice to Beginners—Dress—Care of the Bicycle—Mechanics—Training—Exercise, etc., etc онлайн
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Bicycling opens a delightful future to all who attempt it intelligently. The inspiration of the enthusiast is invaluable; but it is the practical theorist who is successful.
A bright, sunny morning, fresh and cool; good roads and a dry atmosphere; a beautiful country before you, all your own to see and to enjoy; a properly adjusted wheel awaiting you,—what more delightful than to mount and speed away, the whirr of the wheels, the soft grit of the tire, an occasional chain-clank the only sounds added to the chorus of the morning, as, the pace attained, the road stretches away before you!
CHAPTER II.
What the Bicycle Does.
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The bicycle has been evolved—a mechanism, propelled solely by human power, capable of quadrupling the distance traversable by the pedestrian.
The simple, light, and almost universally accepted machine is constructed to stand a strain tremendous in proportion to its weight; for the modern machine weighs only twenty pounds, and it may be lighter, though for some purposes it should be heavier. The bicyclist is virtually mounted on a set of casters, which propels the weight with much greater ease than can be attained in the act of walking. In walking, advantage is taken of the force of gravity by continually falling forward, and simultaneously placing the feet, with a regular motion, one beyond the other, to alternately receive the weight of the body. On the bicycle, the weight is carried and supported, and the wheels reduce friction to a minimum.