Part 9: The Craze for Cycling

The 1880s and 90s were the heyday of the bicycle.

A writer in the New York journal Review of Reviews in 1896 described the bicycle as the ‘champagne’ of exercise. Cycling, he wrote, ‘ takes it out of ourselves, out of the fever and stress, the smoke and dirt, the noise and contamination of city life into the pure atmosphere and open face of heaven’. In Melbourne in the 1890s the well-known department store Foy and Gibson’s sold almost every make of bicycle, while Georges in Collins Street ‘had an indoor Cyclotorium where women were taught how to ride'.

Melbourne embraced the bicycle as early as the 1860s. The first bicycles, velocipedes, had wooden wheels. These were commonly known as the ‘bone shakers’. In 1869 a crowd of 10 to 12 thousand watched a velocipede race at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 1875 the ‘spiders’, ‘high bikes’ or ‘ordinaries’ became available. These would be later known as penny-farthings and had a large front wheel with spokes. These bikes were fast, dangerous - and extremely popular. Only a few years later, in 1878, the first Safety Bicycle was released. It was this style that evolved into the two-wheel bicycle with chain that is still in use today.

With the craze came the establishment of clubs, journals and magazines devoted to cycling. In 1878, the Melbourne Bicycle Club was formed. The daily press published cartoons, articles, poetry and advertisements recording the passion for cycling. Cycling outfits, accessories, new bicycle models and touring adventures were all featured in these magazines.

Such was the popularity for cycling in the 1890s that well-known Melbourne identities Sir Frederick and Lady Sargood held a garden party featuring a bicycle quadrille. The cyclists rhythmically rode to the strains of a Hungarian Band. In fact there were several other bicycle performances staged that year in Melbourne.

In the days when a lady did not leave home without her hat, gloves, corset and full-length skirt, the early female cyclists must have been extremely uncomfortable. Amazingly women did ride enormous distances in long dresses.

In 1895, Mrs Maddocks, the President of the Sydney Bicycle Club, rode from Sydney to Melbourne wearing long dress and straw hat. Some ‘bold’ women did venture out in what became known as the ‘rational dress’. This outfit comprised either a divided skirt, knickerbockers with long socks, or the bloomer dress, which was a shorter knee-length dress with a baggy pair of trousers. The ‘rational dress’ was considered outrageous by some, and there are stories of ladies riding out of the city in long dresses, and changing into ‘rational dress’ once out of sight.

It was during the 1890s that touring became all the rage. Trips between Melbourne and Sydney, or Melbourne and Adelaide were not uncommon. In 1888 two cyclists set off from Melbourne for a world tour. Cycling 100 miles in a day was a feat celebrated by clubs, and the names of those cyclists who achieved a ‘century in a day’ were published in the Australian Cycling News.

At the State Library of Victoria, we have a wonderful collection of illustrated diaries from the 1890s, which were created by bicycle enthusiast Alexander Goodall. A clerk with the Post and Telegraph Office in country Victoria, Goodall often rode long distances on his weekends and holidays, travelling more than 6000 kilometres in the first 12 months of owning a bicycle. His richly illustrated and amusing diaries document the various calamities and achievements along the way.