[SOLO] Bicycling for Ladies by Maria E. Ward -jo

Upcoming books being recorded by a solo reader
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commonsparrow3
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Post by commonsparrow3 »

TriciaG wrote: May 5th, 2021, 4:09 pm Very true!

Two items of note:

(1) Yes, going up an incline IS fatiguing! I can't imagine doing it without gears - being able to down shift!

(2) Avoid ruts parallel to your direction of travel: The time I took a tumble as an adult (which earned me a precautionary ride to the hospital in an ambulance), it was due to that. I've almost gotten in trouble that way since, but I've learned to keep my hands on the handlebars, and force it if I have to. There's no playing nice with the handlebars when your front wheel is in a rut. As my husband wisely said, "The bike will go the direction you steer it."

Both sections PL OK. :)
Thanks, Tricia! I'm working the next several days, but hope to have more sections ready by the middle of next week.

(1) Back when I used to regularly ride from our house to my family's store, there was a street that went sharply downhill, then just as sharply uphill. There was a small cross-street right at the bottom of the hill. If there was no traffic coming out of the cross street, the momentum of the downhill stretch would carry me up the other side with a reasonable amount of pedaling. If a car was coming out of the side street, and i had to pause for it, well then, forget about the uphill, there was no way. I just walked the bike up the hill and resumed riding when I got back on the level. I was very much inclined to curse the placement of that side street!

(2) Ouch! That tumble sounds painful! Even purely precautionary ambulance rides are no fun! I imagine getting your wheel into a rut was a more common occurrence on the dirt roads of the 1890's. In modern times, we are more likely to be done in by potholes!
commonsparrow3
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Post by commonsparrow3 »

Here, after long delay, is Section 6 - (length 16:16)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_06_ward_128kb.mp3

Sorry I've been so absent. My two jobs have gobbled up my days from both ends this month, leaving nary a day off in the middle. But I am off both today and tomorrow - (two days in a row, by some miraculous fluke!) - and hope to get a couple of chapters done in that time.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

No worries. It has been an eventful 2.5 weeks in our household. (Kevin took a tumble off his bike, very close to home, and broke his collarbone and hip. So I've been a bit occupied.)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
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Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
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Post by commonsparrow3 »

TriciaG wrote: June 2nd, 2021, 12:55 pm No worries. It has been an eventful 2.5 weeks in our household. (Kevin took a tumble off his bike, very close to home, and broke his collarbone and hip. So I've been a bit occupied.)
Oh my goodness! A broken hip can be horrible! No wonder you've been "a bit occupied"!
I hope he recovers as soon as may be.

Here's Chapter 7 - (length 14:29)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_07_ward_128kb.mp3
In which our newbie lady bicyclist takes her first road trip with a group.
(I take it "the roller" was 1890's biking slang for the slowest cyclist in the group, most likely our newbie!)
We learn rules of the road, including how to safely pass horses.
Also, we are reminded to take a lamp and matches; those unpaved country roads were dark at night.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

PL OK!
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
Posts: 3101
Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Post by commonsparrow3 »

Here, at last, is Section 8 - (The Art of Wheeling on a Bicycle) - (length 25:33)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_08_ward_128kb.mp3

Sorry for the long silence. I recorded this a couple of weeks ago, then hit a stretch of working every day, so took until now to get it edited. I actually have three days off in the middle of the upcoming week(!), and hope to get caught up on my LibriVoxery while I have the chance - (because after that, I'm scheduled for another stretch of two solid weeks before my next day off.) You'll probably be receiving chapters in this fashion for the rest of the summer, bunches at once, then long gaps.
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

PL OK!

No problem on the schedule. As long as I can PL on my own schedule, it doesn't matter too much. ;)
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
Posts: 3101
Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Post by commonsparrow3 »

Here's Section 9 - (Position and Power) - (length 19:18)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_09_ward_128kb.mp3

Take your time PL'ing - No hurry at all!
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

PL OK!

I wonder what "scorching" is. Sprinting, I understand. :)

Ah, found something: apparently, it's simply cycling with excessive speed. http://web.archive.org/web/20190801193534/http://www.guywoolnough.com/scorching-the-cyclist-menace-of-the-19th-century/
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
Posts: 3101
Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Post by commonsparrow3 »

Aha! So the difference was that "sprinting" was just fast biking, whereas "scorching" was recklessly fast biking.
Riding fast down an open road was fun. Riding fast through a crowded downtown was frowned upon.
Not so different from now -- just different slang!
commonsparrow3
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Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
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Post by commonsparrow3 »

Here's Section 10 - (Difficulties to Overcome) - (length 18:10)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_10_ward_128kb.mp3
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

10 PL OK!

It would be interesting to try to ride a fixed-gear bike with no brakes. :shock:
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
Posts: 3101
Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Post by commonsparrow3 »

Here's Section 11 - (Dress) - (length 12:20)
https://librivox.org/uploads/knotyouraveragejo/bicyclingforladies_11_ward_128kb.mp3
TriciaG wrote: July 8th, 2021, 9:46 amIt would be interesting to try to ride a fixed-gear bike with no brakes. :shock:
No Brakes (!) - that would indeed be alarming. I wonder, when did coaster brakes first come into use? Would they have been an option for these 1890's cyclists?

My own bike - (a blue Schwinn which I rode from my late teens to my early 50's) - had coaster brakes, and I found them very natural to use. When I tried to ride a friend's bike with handlebar brakes, I'd instinctively backpedal, then have a startled and confused "Wha...?? Why is this bike not stopping!?" reaction, then have to actually THINK, "Oh, yeah, there's this other fussy thing you have to do with your hands to stop this bike!" Some people joked that I rode the "Miss Gulch Model", and suggested that I get something more modern. But I was used to my own bike!
TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Maybe I'm hearing it wrong. I think early bikes didn't have brakes. :)

11 PL OK!
Serial novel: The Wandering Jew
Medieval England meets Civil War Americans: Centuries Apart
Humor: My Lady Nicotine
commonsparrow3
Posts: 3101
Joined: January 17th, 2013, 9:16 pm
Location: Rochester, NY

Post by commonsparrow3 »

TriciaG wrote: July 9th, 2021, 9:59 am Maybe I'm hearing it wrong. I think early bikes didn't have brakes. :)
Oh, I was just wondering when they did begin to have brakes, and whether it was anywhere around the time of this book, or later.

Thanks for PL'ing this bunch of chapters! I'm now scheduled to work every day for the next 19 days, so you can relax; it'll be awhile before the next batch comes along!
(No, it's not one unreasonable boss scheduling me for all those days, it's 2 jobs on different days!)
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