THE BICYCLE.

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume II, Issue 166, 22 October 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BICYCLE.

The success of bicycling is now beyond a doubt, and it is attributable to the excellence of the pastime, and the excitement of the sport, No other trials of 3peed between human beings have created such intense excitement as has characterised the close finishes of bicycle races ridden at a tremendous pace ; and no other method of journeying has so quickly and conclusively proved itself in every way admirable as bicycling has done. It is, indeed, its usefulness in travel that has caused the adoption of the bicycle as a national means of locomotion. It as been said and it cannot be too frequently repeated that the bicycle is revolutionising the road-side life in these islands. Here is the main secret of its importance, and this, supplemented by the superior excitements of bicycle racing, has undoubtedly established, bicycling as the foremost among athletic exercises. As there is a new and wonderful intensity in the struggle upon the path, so is there au ever-fresh delight in gliding over fine old roads at a pace equal iu the long run to that of horses, while the exertion required to go rapidly through the country is just sufficient to give an increased zest to travel. A combination of the charms of invigorating exercise and ever-changing scenes, it caught young Britain in a grip which time and opposition only strengthened, until at the present time we have gentlemen who can race trotting horses, and thousands of amateurs who, although they never compete on a racing path, travel hundreds of miles every week at a pace which enables them to distance everything upon the road, including, of course, the best horsed coaches.