There are many questions connected with what to the average rider would
be long journeys on a bicycle which seldom or never obtain the amount of
attention which they require in order to give the rider the comfort and
pleasure that he ought to have.
For instance, the packing of luggage is one of the most important
details of a week's run. The best method for carrying luggage is that
already described in this column, namely, a leather bag fitted to the
inside of the frame. The proper luggage for a week should be the
smallest set of toilet articles that can be conveniently used, a couple
of sets of under-clothing, and at least two extra pairs of long
stockings, and, perhaps most important of all, a pair of loose slippers.
When starting out in the morning the entire clothing which you wear
should be perfectly dry. This can always be accomplished if it is done
in the right way, by asking a maid at the hotel where you stop at night
to see that all your clothes are dried during the night, and it is well
to dress in a different suit each day, except, of course, the trousers
and jacket. When you stop at noon for the hour or two for dinner, with
the intention of riding on in the afternoon, the greatest care should be
taken to avoid taking cold, especially in the fall and winter weather.
In the first place, you should wrap yourself up usually by putting on
the coat and waistcoat which you have been carrying on the front of the
wheel or in the leather portmanteau. It is unwise, however, to take a
bath and change the clothing at this time of day, and therefore merely
the rest and the dinner should be your care at noon. After riding all
the afternoon, the moment the bicycle is stowed away or put under some
one's care, go to your room at the hotel and take a bath. If there
happens to be no bath-tub available, which is often the case at small
inns or country hotels, take a sponge bath--always in warm water at
first, ending with cold. There is considerable danger to any one who
takes a warm bath after heavy physical exertion and omits the cold water
afterward. It is one of the best methods known for catching a dangerous
cold.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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