BIKE BOOKS: Around The World On A Bicycle

I heard a while ago that Google was scanning books and making them available online, but I never expected to be able to read Around The World On A Bicycle by Thomas Stevens on a computer. Stevens was the first cyclist to bike around the world, leaving the west coast in 1884 and returning to America 13,000 miles and two years later.

He did the entire trip on a highwheel bicycle, also known as an ordinary or penny farthing. It was quite an accomplishment when you consider that approximately 1,000 people died from falls off these bicycles in the 10 years they ruled the roads. It's cool also to think that highwheels were the first tall bicycles and among the first fixies too, so Stevens was way ahead of his time.

Stevens financed his adventure by filing reports from the road that were published by Harper's and Outing magazines. Perhaps this explains how his story became a 2-volume, roughly 1,000-page epic. The actual books are highly collectible and can fetch as much as $500 per volume. You can also find them in some libraries, though they typically won't let you bring them home to read.

It's nice that we can all now read it and enjoy the great illustrations whenever and however we want. To get you started I've embedded Volume 1 - From San Francisco to Teheran. Here's the link to the book on Google in case the embed doesn't offer full functionality. Incidentally, the furthest I've ridden in a day on my 1886 Victor Light Roadster highwheel is 100 miles in Scotland in 1990.

Great Free Mag #2: Momentum!

I recently told you about the cool new free online cycling 'zine Urban Velo. It turns out that there's another fine free online bicycle mag you need to check out - Momentum, The magazine for self-propelled people published in Vancouver. I'm having a wonderful time clicking around and reading all the encouraging stories of how inspirational people are using cycling to change our world. Even Lance Armstrong, who just opened an Austin, Texas bicycle shop called Mellow Johnny's, which caters to all pedalers to grow cycling in the community. You can read feature stories like these on the site or open any entire issue from their archives for free (or subscribe if you like). And each magazine, and every section of the site is packed with fun stuff, like Omar Bhimji's Internally-Geared Hubs for the technically minded, their Reported Elsewhere section that carries the latest two-wheel news from all over, or Issue 35, which is perfect for the What Not to Wear set; or maybe their fashion show video would be perfect. Wherever you end up, I think you'll enjoy yourself and appreciate all Momentum is doing to provide some additional momentum to bicycles and cycling. Great stuff.

NEWSWIRE: Albany Highwheel Event A Hit

Last weekend was the Albany, California (near Berkeley) Criterium and since it was the city's centennial, the promoters decided to hold a special highwheel bicycle event as part of the festivities. I brought my 1886 Victor Light Roadster and had a blast getting schooled by the other riders in the skill events, the slalom, the slow race (the last to cross the finish line wins; "ready - set - slow!") and the straight-and-narrow, where you have to ride down a decreasing-width lane formed by tape on the road. The person who makes it the furthest without touching the tape with his tire wins.

Then came something I'm good at, the mile race. Fourteen riders participated and we started together. To mount one of these antique bicycles (sometimes called an Ordinary, because it was the ordinary bike of the 1880s - or a Penny Farthing, a British term based on 2 coins that, when placed side by side, resemble the bikes), you put your left foot on a little step on the backbone (the frame). You then push with your right foot to get the bike rolling. Once the bike's got just enough speed to balance it, you push off with your right foot, push up on the step with your left foot, boost yourself into the seat and find the pedals with your feet at the same time. Getting off is the reverse - or, if you're brave, you can jump off.

With everyone safely underway, we tore around the course, the guys on the smallest wheels (equal to smaller gears) getting an early lead and keeping it all the way to the slight climb on the backside of the course. But, with my 56-inch wheel, I was able to gradually overtake the leaders and pull away around the last corner for the win. The photos show a "brace," a common 1880s crowd-pleaser, where we line up on our bikes by holding each other's handlebars for support, and me finishing the mile. For more on highwheeling:
http://www.jimlangley.net/spin/wheeling.html
http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/singerbritishchallenge.html
http://www.thewheelmen.com
http://www.hiwheel.com