How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle: Reflections of an Influential 19th Century Woman

In Europe and the United States there was a brief period that roughly spanned the 1890s. During that period, people of all ages began abandoning one troublesome, expensive and polluting form of tranportation, the horse, without adopting the automobile, which was at least as troublesome, expensive and polluting. That was the Golden Age of the Bicycle. If I were given the power to rewrite history, I'd be tempted to delay the invention of the car long enough, perhaps twenty years, to give our cities, our neighborhoods and our societies a chance to establish themselves around the bicycle, before I would allow the automobile to come along. Unfortunately, I can't do that. But I can recommend books from this golden age to bicycle lovers so they can get a glimpse of what might have been. This book, Wheel Within a Wheel is one. But be sure to check out Around the World on a Bicycle, the story of the first person to circle the world on a bicycle, as well as Across Asia on a Bicycle, which describes the Asian leg of the second circumnavigation of the world by bicycle and the first using the modern 'safety' bike.

An engaging account of Victorian life and women is presented through the eyes of Frances E. Willard, woman extraordinaire. Willard, widely known in the United States and abroad for her social reform efforts, discovered the bicycle at the age of fifty-three. Although she was not in good health, she was still determined to dare and take chances and, most importantly, urged other women to do so. Willard believed that the experience of mastering a bicycle would give a woman the experience of mastering her own personal destiny. Thus, we are treated to an amusing account of how Willard mastered "Gladys", her bicycle. Some charming pictures of Willard and her bicycle are included.However, the most interesting and entertaining aspect of the book is found near the end in a section by Lisa Larrabee entitled, "Women and Cycling: The Early Years". Some new and unusual facts accompanied by sketches and pictures make the article not only enchanting but an important contribution to the history of cycling. Did you know that all sorts of maladies were thought to occur if a woman cycled? A woman could develop "bicycle eye" caused by prolonged raising of the eyes while the head was lowered in a riding position. Or even worse, a woman could ruin the "feminine organs of matrimonial necessity"! Also fascinating were some of the many accessories especially for women. One was called "Cherry's Screen". It was a device that blocked the view of a lady's ankles and feet, and also prevented her skirt from blowing about. It rather looked like batwings. Larrabee combines humor and historical fact to allow a glimpse of Victorian life for the female and to explain how the bicycle led to the eventual emancipation of women.Anyone who enjoys cycling would find this book a great conversation piece and a welcome addition to his or her library.

Frances Willard was a hardy, clear-spoken New England Temperance/Suffrage activist of the late 19th century. Until age 16, she had free run of the world, but then was bound by the corsets and hoops and restrictions of womanhood. That is, until she turned 53 and received the gift of "a wheel" -- a safety bicycle -- from a friend in the movement. Her reflections on riding the bicycle are amusing and profound. It was very much a community effort for her; she describes one lesson in which four friends stand at the corners (including one at each side of the handlebars, counterbalancing them) and walk her down the drive. BUT this book is ultimately more about life than it is about cycling. It is like a journal of all the insights sparked by this return to the unfettered freedom of Willard's youth. And for that, it is precious and challenging. The language reminded me of Mark Twain's dry observations on his own habits and predilections, and Willard is certainly his equal in exercising her powers of observation and analysis. Ultimately she reflects a universal experience: the experience of flight on two wheels that attracts so many of us to the sport and discipline of the bicycle.