Bicycle History: More Great “Cycloventions,” Including the Bicycle Hearse, Baby Buggy & Fire Engine

More men of invention ... are today wrestling with the problems of gearing, sprockets, pedals, tires and “rigidity of frame,” than ever turned to washing machines, churns or automatic freight car couplers. The crank ... startles the cycling world daily with the weird combinations of the wheels within his own head. The Buffalo Enquirer, New York, … Continue reading Bicycle History: More Great “Cycloventions,” Including the Bicycle Hearse, Baby Buggy & Fire Engine

The Great Bloomer Controversy, the Anti-Bloomer Brigade & the Anti-Dude League

Bloomers, bloomers, bloomers … they were all the rage for the freedom-seeking wheelwomen pedaling the streets of a nation struggling to come to grips with change. And the growing suffrage movement. Bloomers were a hot-button topic in the 1890s, the stuff of controversy ... and cartoons. The Brooklyn Citizen newspaper “is in favor of modified bloomers … Continue reading The Great Bloomer Controversy, the Anti-Bloomer Brigade & the Anti-Dude League

Bicycle History: More Dog vs. Bicycle Stories, including the Dog Brigade, A Meaty Tire & Anti-Canine Explosives!

There’s something Pavlovian deep within the DNA of dogs that gets their adrenaline pumping and saliva flowing whenever they hear the spinning wheels of a bicycle approach. Unfortunately for us cyclists, dogs have really good ears. Especially the bigger, faster, nastier ones. The annals (and animals) of cycling history are filled with stories of titanic … Continue reading Bicycle History: More Dog vs. Bicycle Stories, including the Dog Brigade, A Meaty Tire & Anti-Canine Explosives!