Bygone Bicyclist

Words disappear into the atmosphere

Few trials in life really blow you away, or at least in my short time here on this planet. It’s easy to say travels to new places really have a great opportunity to do this…and certainly take advantage of the situation in my experience. Japan takes the cake. Each trip was breathtaking in its own humble way. A look back only begins to shed light. From crowded, bustling cities, to quaint, quiet towns. Credit cards to hand-written receipts. Flowers or skyscrapers. Rice paddies and concrete jungles. Volcanoes. Castles. Rivers. Gorges.

What I’m getting at is the fact that Japan was really great.

Sentiments distingues,

http://www.kval.com/news/local/131880728.html

Much more writing to come this month. I’ve been busy, and not busy telling myself I’m busy. I wanted to throw out a link to a story I read back in October. Conjuring up four paragraphs about the issue, story and solution, I quickly decided a short post bringing the story back into light was a better direction. Just like car accidents will always plague our streets, cycling accidents will too. We can’t expect to get rid of them all, but we can handle them appropriately.

It’s now nearing on two years since I cycled the area of Puget Sound, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. Back in Mid-October of last year (2011), it was decided that the 18-year-old driver who collided into avid cyclist, John Przychodzen, and continued on 40-50 feet, to smash into a telephone pole, would be fined $42 for an unsafe lane change and get away without any other charges. Yes, forty-two dollars. Przychodzen, age 49, was known by friends and family alike as “Uncle Safety”, and commonly rode his bicycle for necessary errands. He was on his way to dinner at his brother’s house on July 22, 2012, after leaving work, when he was violently struck and killed. It’s disgusting and heartbreaking, and the fact that the justice system would allow such a slap in the face is utterly unbelievable. No fine at all would be better than $42. $42 just sends the wrong message, and is completely infuriating. Those in power are stating that driver, Nicholas N. Natale, did not break any laws, and the $42 fine is suitable, despite the tragedy of the accident. Mr. Przychodzen was wearing a helmet and riding in the shoulder of the road. 42 dollars. Unsafe lane change, into the shoulder. Because the shoulder is a lane for driving. Depressing.

http://ghostbikes.org/

Such fascinating history can’t be lost forever. We often think we know everything and have discovered all the missing pieces, but then some selfless, hard work unearths a truth we’ve been overlooking for so long. The story of Sylvester Roper, motorcycles and automobiles is one of those things. Just now we’re understanding our naivety and ignorance. It’s accepted now, that Roper made many vehicles, many of which he took no credit for, allowing friends and investors to take credit for creating. Roper certainly created some of our very first automobiles, as well as invented things like the shotgun choke, the repeatable shotgun revolver, a hot-air engine, a handstitching sewing machine. Patents in his name include a padlock, shotgun choke, semi-automatic shotgun, knitting machines, fire-arm magazines and more.

In 1867, Sylvester Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts sturdied a bicycle – a velocipede; also known as a boneshaker – a boiler and a steam engine together to craft what is accepted to be one of the first known motorcycles. Though these machines were never publicly accepted, they paved the way for gas powered motorcycles of the 1900s. Of the many steam-powered vehicles Roper created, only two are known to be motorcycles. Included are steam-carriages, one of which is carefully housed at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Roper began crafting the 94 steam-cycle with a Pope, Columbia model 36 bicycle. To it he added a boiler, burner, water pump, grate, and steam engine which all powered the spinning of the rear wheel, similar to his original Hanlon velocipede of 1867. The water pump was powered by the rear hub and the water tank situated on top of the boiler. Roper used his motorcycle commonly to show its extreme potential, but also for his own amusement and transportation. It’s rumored that Roper would fire up his Columbia, ride it seven miles to the bay, take the coals out and put them in his steam-boat, enjoy his of boating and then return some of the coals back to his bike and ride home.

1 June 1896, Roper’s brilliant mind left this world. At Charles River Velodrome, near Cambridge, Mass, Roper was pacing bicyclists who couldn’t keep up with his powerful steam-wheel. He was clocked doing 40 miles per hour at his top speed – 2 minutes 1.4 seconds for a single mile. The crowd then experienced him wobbling on his bike and then he fell to the track, suffering head-injury. Autopsy found the cause of death to be heart failure, however it is unknown if his heart failed, causing the crash, or an issue unknown to us caused him to suffer heart-attack, and then wreck. Papers of the time mention he had turned off the steam-engine before the wreck, as if he knew there was an issue.

“… had made fast time on Charles River Park when he suddenly fell – had shut off the steam as if on premonition of the end.”

Bikes made before 1900 are rare enough; many still hidden away in barns. Most people probably think of me and think how taking it a next step away from reality is just how I live. Ashamed to say, that might be the case. Post-RAGBRAI 2011, I decided a high wheel tandem would be fun to ride (what is wrong with me?!). So I started researching a bit, and came up with very little information and pictures. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far, though.

The Ruckter tandem was imported in 1884 or 1885 and was ridden state side. One is hanging in the Ben Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. I laughed out loud when I first saw it. Reading the papers of the times about a 4 inch difference in wheel size could accommodated. The two wheels could be ridden parallel with a couple foot wide track; this was not for the weak of heart. There is at least one in the CZ that has been ridden in modern times. One was made for the Glenn Stockdale collection which defyied ridding at least by the vetrans that tried to master it. Later sold at auction about 7 years ago. If Jimmie Spillane can build a monocycle – this should be a walk in the park for him to turn out one. Amaze your friends and family wear a helmet along with your partner take out a hefty insurance policy and give it a go, we’ll be waiting to see the youtube videos.

Cheers,
Carey

The Benjamin Franklin Institute labels this as a photo from 1884.

Cornelius C. Mershon and Alvin Irwin on a Rucker Tandem in 1884

Additionally, this one from 1931.

Henry Crowther and two children wave to the camera on June 3, 1931.

Most typically, back in those days, a tandem bicycle (high wheel) was called a courting bike; also known as dual track or two track. They had a total of 3 or 4 wheels; any combination of big and small – 2 big, 1 little; 1 big, 2 little; 4 big. The true high-wheel tandem is clearly difficult to ride, and quite something to master – both physically and mentally!

Tandem boneshaker!

Another strange tandem of the old days.

Comic book ad which mentions high-tandems.