Bicycling 1874 A Textbook For Early Riders (1874 – republished 1970)

The manual for which WE Gladstone might have reached had he wished to apply pedaled propulsion to his premiership

Originally published by Tinsley Bros, facsimile David and Charles 0175349341 Octo 80pp

This was the first of three annual guides to cycling, written by an unknown author and published by Tinsley. At the time of publication, high wheelers were in the early years of their ascendancy and cycling’s centre of gravity had swung decisively to the UK.

In a relatively few pages, the author sets out pretty much all that there was to know about cycling at that time. There is a potted history of the development of two wheelers, a practical guide to riding an ‘ordinary’, a maintenance guidance, an account of bicycling records thus far set, a guide to cycle clubs and accounts of popular longer journeys in the UK and Europe.

Victoria would rule for more than quarter of a century after this book’s appearance, making the world that it describes seem impossibly distant. Its quality, as a facsimile and as an original, is that it speeds the imagination over that separation of years as might a light pair of sprints.

In an account of a tour of north Wales, the author states: “From Capel-Curig to Llanberis (the road) becomes almost exactly like a Scotch mountain or a Highland road, but sufficiently good for men who ride well-built machines, and are not great at grumbling”. I last rode that route 110 years after this book was published, and my assessment differed little. Itineraries for several foreign tours are also included.

The sporting exploits that the book records are generally from the year 1871 onwards – a period when distances and disciplines were in their infancy. Indeed, most of the records also state the size of front wheel that was employed by each contestant.

It concludes with a list of bicycle clubs – metropolitan and provincial – listing contact details and officials. There is even a pro-forma club constitution for anyone wanting to add to the rosta of organised bicyclists.

In an age of seemingly limitless data, there is something rather refreshing about a sub-100 page tome that aspires to contain all knowledge on a subject. More striking still is that despite the revolutionary changes visited on humanity since its publication, the wobbly pleasure of experiencing the world on a pair of self-propelled wheels is unchanged.

PS Sep 10