The Velocipede: Its History, Varieties, and PracticeGoddard, J. T.
History
The Velocipede: Its History, Varieties, and Practice
Goddard, J. T.
Bicycles -- History; Tricycles -- History
In New York, a project has been advocated of building an elevated
railway, from Harlem to the Battery, to be used only by velocipede
riders. On such a railway, thirty feet wide, and with a flooring
of hard pine, it would be possible to go from one end of Manhattan
Island to the other in about an hour, making allowance for delays,
from stoppages and accidents. A good rider, with a clear track,
could easily accomplish the distance in half an hour; but, with a
well-filled road, progress would necessarily be slower. In Prospect
and Washington Parks, Brooklyn, the bicycle votaries are allowed the
same privileges as equestrians. Many of the level streets of that city,
with the Nicholson and concrete pavements, furnish a capital surface
for the velocipedestrians, and are great resorts. It is even said,
that the benign City Fathers propose to bridge the gutters for their
accommodation.
The residents of Boston will find good riding grounds, easy of access
to the city, on many of the smooth roads of its beautiful suburbs.
Philadelphians can ride the velocipede on their straight, level
streets. We know of no place so admirably adapted to the bicycle, as
Broad Street, Philadelphia, with its miles of Nicholson pavement.
VELOCIPEDE RACING.
Another feature of the velocipede campaign, will be races against time,
and contests of rival riders. Fast and slow races for money, silver
cups, and other prizes, follow each other night after night in most
of our rinks. All the race-courses will be used for this purpose. A
provision for this sort of sport is in progress, at the Capitoline
Ball-ground, Brooklyn, where in May a half-mile track of smooth hard
road-way will be ready. The managers of the Prospect Park Association,
of the same place, have made arrangements to signalize their first
spring meeting for 1869, with a grand velocipede tournament; at which
prizes amounting to $1,500 will be given for the best time, to the
winners of a series of races. These races will be governed by a special
code of rules, which will include handicapping for weight of machines
and riders, diameter of driving wheel, and extent of treadles. There
will be first, second, and third prizes for the greatest speed; prizes
for the best time made; and prizes for slow riding. This tournament
will afford, not only an excellent opportunity for the display of
skill in American velocipede riding, but also a fair chance to show
off the merits of the different styles of machines. It will create an
excitement, and it is anticipated that many thousand people will be
present.
The proprietors of Riverside Park, near Boston, also intend to
inaugurate a series of bicycle contests on their course during the
ensuing summer.
At the last annual meeting of the Housatonic Agricultural Society of
Berkshire County, Mass., a vote was passed, offering premiums for
bicycle races, at the next exhibition and fair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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