BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

"Don’t race. Leave that to the scorchers."

Don’t ignore the laws of the road because you are a woman.

Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”

//edit// bicycle + face is a pretty fun image search string

Don't go to church in your bicycle costume.

Favorite.

And for men? Don’t try to ride in your sister’s clothes “to see how it feels."

"Don't scream if you meet a cow."

I break that rule every time I meet a cow. Though it is a friendly, somewhat gentle scream. A boisterous greeting, really.

Thankfully I have long ago given up wearing garden party hats with my bloomers, I found the look made me seem too "hippy".

I'll do my part to "educate" mrs. marvelous on the rules.

(Edit) Rule educate fail.

Hahaha don't attempt a century

oh my god. It's impossible to choose only one favorite. Ones not mentioned above that are insane to me:

Don’t imagine everybody is looking at you.

Don’t chew gum. Exercise your jaws in private.

Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know.

Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.

Don’t discuss bloomers with every man you know.

Don’t use bicycle slang. Leave that to the boys.

speaking of bicycle slang...

Don’t appear to be up on “records” and “record smashing.” That is sporty.

Don’t appear in public until you have learned to ride well.

Don’t faint on the road.

Don’t forget your toolbag.

Don’t boast of your long rides.

Don’t criticize people’s “legs.”

Don’t contest the right of way with cable cars.

All sound advice 117 years later.

I'm with Quiz bot.

Don’t coast. It is dangerous. (With the fixies that all bikes were in 1895. See the pic.)



Don’t wear tight garters.

Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”

Don’t wear clothes that don’t fit.

Don’t neglect a “light’s out” cry.

Don’t wear jewelry while on a tour.

Don’t wear laced boots. They are tiresome.

Don’t wear white kid gloves.

Don’t try to have every article of your attire “match.”

How much advice we give here will be laughable a century hence?

Pretty much all of these make someone girlfriend material in my book.

somewhat related

velocipeding just doesn't sound good... sounds like something a large, carnivorous insect would do while on the hunt. those cartoons are hilarious.

The things that make it through the sands of time from way back when to here and now that provide such entertainment... I always wonder how much of the hilarity is lost, what didn't get through. And will we be as funny 117 years from now? How much of our "quaint ideas" will make it to 2125?

I wonder how authentic this is? It seems a little too amusing and conveniently anti-feminist by modern standards. It's easy to be taken in by this sort of thing -- like the Desiderata, which was attributed to an unknown source in the 17th century, but was actually written in the 1910s, I think.

A close read* of the line quality of the drawings tells me that a contemporary cartoonist has invented a "back story" to a probably authentic vintage advertisement. I love the concept and the drawings!

*it's actually not all that hard to tell...

I didn't mean the cartoon, I was referring to A List of Dont's for Women on Bicycles Circa 1895.

Becca's OP gives a link which has a citation for the list. It may have been reprinted from the "Wheels of Change" history book. There's a review and some more awesome images here: http://www.grist.org/biking/2011-03-24-how-women-rode-the-bicycle-into-the-future-slideshow/PALL

"The bicycle gave young people opportunities to socialize without parental supervision, which freaked out a lot of clergymen and other arbiters of morality. This foursome was having a pleasant excursion in Denver, Colo., circa 1905."

[edit] Brakeless Fixie Hipsters!!!!

Also, in 1897 male students @ Cambridge protested a proposal to grant full degrees to women by hanging an effigy of female cyclist @ a public protest. You can see it here: http://www.sheilahanlon.com/?p=292

Don’t scratch a match on the seat of your bloomers.

This might actually be a good idea

Don’t emulate your brother’s attitude if he rides parallel with the ground.

They had recumbents in 1895?

"They had recumbents in 1895?"

Yes. At least as early as 1892.

http://bikeroute.com/WhyBent.php

http://www.bicycleman.com/history/history.htm

http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2005/02/the_first_recum.html

i guess that means that they were fixed gear recumbents? The only real change would be for hipsters to acquire a beard grooming kit.

that picture almost looks like a super leany upright rather than a recumbant... Is there some kind of cutoff between a leany upright and an upright recumbant?

They probably actually mean parallel to the ground like this:

In my not-so-expert opinion, that device lies somewhere on the border betwixt CLWB (compact long wheelbase) recumbent and crank-forward bike (a la Day 6, RANS Hammertruck,etc.)

I'd go with CLWB 'bent, but only just barely.

This is a nice thread

Talking with my Mom back in the summer about bikes, she told me that she was never allowed in one by her parents, even though her older brothers were --please keep in mind this was in the 1950's, and my grandpa was VERY old fashion = he was born in 1890.

Anyhow, she learned to ride one of my uncle's bikes, which she said was difficult because the bike was too big for her, and her feet barely touched the pedals. She then said she would go and "spy" on a boy she liked who lived a couple of blocks from her house. She would wear her brother's pants -which were still too big, so she would look like a "boy" and people wouldn't recognize her riding the bike.

How times have changed