Deep roots in bike-riding

[darkemeralds]

(Crossposted to darkemeralds)

I thought the community might enjoy this photo, circa 1895 (maybe?), of my great-grandmother Gertrude Cone and her elegant ladies' bicycle at the side of the Willamette River in Portland.

Comments

[daedala]

AWESOME.

That is all.

[darkemeralds]

:D

[ell]

I love it!

[darkemeralds]

So glad you enjoyed. :D I love your icon.

[giglet]

Yay! And that is a good looking bike!

[darkemeralds]

It's pretty, isn't it? I had to look closely for a while before I noticed the (undoubtedly handmade) skirt guard on the rear wheel.

[daedala]

Haha, I saw that right off, because I really want one for my baby commuter. Not that I wear long skirts often. But I could! Also they're super-cute and I like putting toys on my bicycles.

[darkemeralds]

I was gonna make one for Clyde, my first bike, but the prospect of poking all those holes in the not-very-good plastic fender put me off. I ended up with an Omafiets, which comes standard with a skirt guard--though not nearly as pretty a one as handmade. If you do make one, I hope to see photos here!

[woldy]

Lovely! And the hat, too :-D

[darkemeralds]

I love the hat! And the skirt guard that you can just make out on the rear wheel. I bet she made that herself.

[jana]

Love the bike! And the hat! that doesn't look arranged at all, oh no ;)

[darkemeralds]

Right?

I suppose when you had to set up a big box on a tripod, and hold still for several seconds in order to capture the image, you took time to put on your Sunday best and strike a pose.

[n6vfp]

Those are deep cycling roots. I enjoy seeing pictures like this, of people who were the pioneers of their day.

[darkemeralds]

Thanks. I can only imagine how pioneering Portland must have been in 1895.

[n6vfp]

It probably was a challenge to be a woman who was a cyclist. As this was years before automobiles made the scene it was quite a thing to use a bicycle.

[darkemeralds]

I believe the bicycle was seen as the greatest liberator of women up to that time. I can imagine that that posed something of a threat.

Gertrude there would be on the brink of having grandchildren before she got the right to vote. Hard to believe now, isn't it?

[n6vfp]

We have come a long way in the journey, but we have miles to go. Yes, I look back at this and think these people were true pioneers.

[ilanarama]

That is awesome! You've come a long way, baby.

[darkemeralds]

We really have. Now I'm free to ride a bike like that in a skirt very much like that to a real job where I make as much as the guy in the next cubicle. On Election Day! And the "serious cyclists" don't even look twice anymore.