By Christina Morin
I was reading the other day on the Guardian about the upcoming Cycle Show in Earl’s Court, London. The article started with a fabulous quote from American suffragette, Susan B. Anthony: ‘The bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world’. Although I’m not sure I’m qualified to comment on the emancipation of women, I do love the feeling of freedom and, admittedly, shadenfreude-tinged glee that comes from whizzing down the street and inwardly laughing at all the grumpy people stuck in endless queues of traffic. Through my time in Ireland, I’ve lived in several cities, some more cycle-friendly than others, but I’m always thankful for my bike and the ability just to jump on and cycle into the sunset, as it were.
Anyway, after inspiring me with a renewed love for my bike and its possibilities, the article got me thinking about the history of cycling. It turns out that I’m not the first to become intrigued by the subject. A random internet search reveals some interesting homages to the humble bicycle and its history. There’s a National Bicycle History Archive of America as well as a Bicycle Museum of America, for instance, and in Wales, there’s a National Cycle Collection (located, ironically, in a place called ‘Automobile Palace’!), with a searchable archive of nearly 5000 cycling-related documents. The University of Warwick houses the National Cycle Archive, founded in part by the Cyclists’ Touring Club (itself founded in 1878), in order to preserve ‘archives, books and journals relating to cycles and cycling’. The holdings can be searched via the library’s catalogue, and there is also a list of the archive’s main holdings – fascinating reading in and of itself! Once you’ve delved into a bit of cycle history research, you can attend the annual International Cycling History Conference, which has been held throughout the world for over 20 years. The 2011 conference will take place in Paris, in case you’re interested!
Before I decided to change my field of research completely in the face of such interesting internet finds, I decided it’d be wise to see what’s been published and what scope for original research remains. A leisurely trawl through Amazon and Trinity’s library catalogue revealed the usual suspects: fitness manuals, cycling guidebooks, urban planning handbooks, and memoirs of cycling legends. There were also, however, several intriguing entries for historical studies. Ashgate, for instance, has recently published two studies of cycling history: Raleigh and the British Bicycle Industry: A Economic History and Business History, 1870-1960 (2000), by Roger Lloyd-Jones and M.J. Lewis, and Cycling and Society (2007), edited by Paul Rosen, Peter Cox, and David Horton. In specific relation to Irish cycling, two 2006 texts caught my eye: Brian Griffin’s Cycling in Victorian Ireland, and Kevin Howard’s Territorial Politics and Irish Cycling. Earlier works that also look interesting include, Cycling History: Myths and Queries (1991) by Derek Roberts, and 100 Years of Cycling Road Records (1988), published by the Road Records Association. Then, of course, there are all of the published proceedings from the International Cycle History Conferences held over the years – a not insignificant amount of research devoted purely to cycling history!
Given the centrality of cycling to twenty-first century culture, as attested to by the seemingly countless country- and/or region-specific cycling guides I found, I was surprised there weren’t more academic studies of the bike and its history. Perhaps now, when we’ve become increasingly aware of the need for ‘greener’ living, thus pushing cycling as a clean and cheap form of transportation to the forefront, we’ll start to see more academic interest in it. And, while I don’t see myself doing any of that said research, I may well have a flick through the histories that are there, if only to provide further food for thought as I speed along the road on my trusty red racer.
Pue's Occurrences 
11 October 2010 at 21:15 |
I can recommend Brian Griffin’s book, it offers a great insight into the bizarre world of Victorian cycling. It also led me to discover that my great-great grandfather, Austin Meldon, was Ireland’s first cyclist! interestingly his bike was a specially designed model, because despite being a doctor, he weighed a whopping 18 stone!
12 October 2010 at 10:56 |
Wow! That is big! In my experience though, cycling is a pretty democratic sport! I remember going out on a cycle with a club once and being led by a 74-year-old, thin-as-a-whippet man, who looked about 45 and cycled like a pro. He said we’d have a nice, easy cycle, and though I didn’t like to admit it at the time, I was really struggling to keep up!
8 February 2015 at 22:27 |
Dear Patrick
I am preparing a paper for the 26th International Cycling History Conference in August 2015 on Austin Meldon who bought one of the first Michaux bicycles, I believe in 1865. I wonder if you have any family archives or photographs which might shed light on this machine or on the rest of his cycling career?
If you receive this perhaps you might make like to make contact.
Best regards
Nick Clayton
13 October 2010 at 12:21 |
What an interesting article – not least because of the thought that it may have contributed to women’s emancipation. It is also notable in that, unlike practically all current articles about cycling, it makes no mention of the health benefits of cycling. I make this point because of a recent experience that was decidedly unhealthy.
I was taking my usual cycle run along the best cycle track in Ireland along the seafront in Clontarf, on the part of the track that is about fifty feet from the adjacent road, when I was sent flying by a car! While I was cycling a car appeared from my right to go across the track (on a short section of roadway) to access a car-park on my left, completely ignoring two large ‘Stop’ signs.
One of the driver’s first comments to me was that she had stopped her car as required, even though it was halfway across the track. She then said I had been travelling too fast for a cycle track (I did not point out to her that I had exceeded my biblically alloted time on earth and that I secretly took it as a compliment that someone would think me capable of cycling quite so fast). Her final accusation was that I had been cycling on the wrong side of the track at the fateful time!
Can anyone explain to me how one copes with such a mentality? Cycling and emancipation may be connected but drivers in their cars take their freedom to other heights.
13 October 2010 at 16:32 |
Oh, David, I’m sorry you had that experience, but, unfortunately, it seems to be one that will echo with most cyclists in Ireland. I also had a recent run-in with a car – literally. I was cycling along a busy road that, of course, has no cycle lanes, and also has parking spaces along both sides. Anyway, a car just in front of me saw a parking spot, flicked on its directional, and, without bothering to check its left wing mirror, pulled into the spot, hitting me in the process. I came over the front of my bike, landed on my chin, tore my cycling jacket, and smashed my hand. What was the driver’s first response? ‘It was your fault’. Exactly how, he obviously wasn’t quite sure, but his sympathy levels were non-existent. He got even more belligerent when my husband (who came at my distressed phone call) asked for his details just in case anything was broken or badly injured. Nothing was, thank goodness, but, aside from being badly bruised and shaken, I was also dismayed at what I now know is a very typical response to such incidents.