What? Mountain Biking in 1887? Sure! We had mountains. We had bikes. A picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes as a writer doing research you come across the most interesting finds. For me, the picture below is a treasure.
Edited from the image http://memory.loc.gov/master/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g03000/3g03000/3g03043u.tif found on the Library of Congress website.
Here’s the explanation of the picture from Wikipedia:
"Bicycling", a ca.1887 color print showing one of the few ways in which it was socially acceptable for women to ride bicycles. The print shows a number of men riding big-wheel or "penny-farthing" bicycles, while a woman is riding a three-wheeled cycle, which appears to have little steering ability beyond manually braking one of the rear wheels slightly more than the other. The woman is probably riding in front partly for the reason that if she rode in back, the men would constantly have to be looking behind them, to make sure that they didn't quickly open up large gap by going much faster than she could.
Note how the man on the far right has his legs over the handlebars as he descends the hill to ensure that, should the large front wheel of the bicycle he is riding hit a rock, be caught in a rut or otherwise become unable to turn, he would be thrown off feet first, as opposed to head first ("taking a header") if seated with his feet on the pedals.
Tagging on to yesterday’s blog, I’ve often wondered “What Would Jesus Ride?” In the story, The Road Of Life, Jesus is riding a tandem bike; first as the Stoker in the back position, and then in the front position as Captain. That’s a wonderful image. We want Him to be the Captain of our lives.
But what if there wasn’t a tandem bike around? What would Jesus ride? Would he ride a mountain bike? A road bike? A BMX bike? A hybrid? An old beat up bike? A shiny new bike? A rowing bike? A track bike? A penny farthing? A recumbent bike? A touring bike? A sociable? An electric bike? A folding bike? An exercise bike? A stair-cycle? A conference bike?
Bikes . . . the creative mind of God shining through man’s inventions. Some of the bikes above you may have never heard of . . . like a conference bike where seven people face each other and ride and talk like in the photo below. Now there’s a piece of engineering!
Photo and invention by Eric Staller
Or how about the "Sociable"? A two person bike, but the two riders are side by side!
Photo By Dale Hammerschmidt
Or how about a rowing bike? All the forward motion is done by pulling on the handlebar.
Photo by Richard Keatinge
Or how about the recumbent bike? Every human powered vehicle speed record ever set has used the recumbent design. They were outlawed from the Tour De France back in the mid-1900's because they were too fast!
Public Domain
Hmmmm . . . so many choices, and we've only scratched the surface of cycling!
So much creativity.
What would Jesus Ride?
Tell me what YOU think!
So cool! I love that top picture, especially. Maybe you should have had your legs over your handle bars when you rode over the railroad tracks at 18 mph.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience Jesus doesn't have his own bike. Why should he need one? He is always along for our rides, on our bikes, right?
When I was on a cycling adventure in Hawaii, sweating and powering myself up that volcano-high hill, feeling the fire in my thighs and the burning of each and every one of my cell fibers, my mind reeling with every reason why I should quit, all of a sudden my best friend Jesus was cradled in behind me. Wow! He was so close I could feel Him. And then "whooooosh"! Something changed. His feet nudged under mine atop those pedals, providing a source of power that enabled me to gain renewed strength and energy. Then he just jumped off the bike and ran behind me, giving me that amazing push that propelled me up the steep incline. And then there he was again, sharing my seat, pressing, pushing, controlling those pedals.
But wait! We arrived. We had reached the top of that mountain peak. Would I be on my own now? Would I be left alone to simply coast down the hill at a leisurely pace?
As soon as the two of us reached the summit, the peak of that mighty hill that just a few minutes ago we just seemed to float up, Jesus was on the handle bars...no He was snuggled in behind me on that tiny little bike seat... either way, there we were, flying down the straightaway, legs extended side by side, almost perpendicular to the bike, toes pointed up, the breeze whipping under and around us, our mouths an open door to every tropical insect flying by, as together we squealed with joy and delight.
What a rush! What a ride!
Jesus was my strength that day. He was and is my power every day. He loves to share my journey, support my challenges, and soar with me in every fun and beautiful moment in every day.