The History of Bicycling in Pictures

Upward Bound Urban Bicycling 2013

Compare and Contrast: What do you notice?

Check it.

Both are taken in Golden Gate Park!

Bicycles in S.F.

• Introduced in late 1800s.

• "Boneshakers" - the name for bikes back in the day.

• Designed out of wooden wheels similar to horse drawn cart wheels.

• Bicycling was more for the novelty than for the practicality.

"The Winged Heel" SF Chronicle - January 25th, 1879

“The bicycle ranks among those gifts of science to man, by which he is enabled to supplement his own puny powers with the exhaustic forces around him. He sits in the saddle, and all nature is but a four-footed beast to do his bidding. Why should he go a foot, while he can ride a mustang of steel, who knows his rider and never needs a lasso?.. The exhilaration of bicycling must be felt to be appreciated. With the wind singing in your ears, and the mind as well as body in a higher plane, there is an ecstasy of triumph over inertia, gravitation, and the other lazy ties that bind us. You are traveling! Not being traveled.”

What about these two images?

Check it. What changed?

Both pictures are of Union Square!

• Image #1: circa 1880s.

• Image #2: what you see today.

Why such a drastic change?

• Rubber and War: Transformed transportation.

Quote from: The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire - Historian Joe Jackson

[During the 1860s] rubber had become essential for war. In addition to its many uses in railroads and steam engines, military catalogues of the era show new designs using rubber for shoes and boots, blankets, hats, coats, pontoon boats, bayonet guards, tents, ground sheets, canteens, powder flasks, haversacks, and buttons...

Another quote:

"The 1890s would be the decade of the bicycle. The seven million bicycles found worldwide in 1895 used most of the world’s rubber, a boom that would not have occurred if not for the invention of the “pneumatic rubber tyre.” Although there had been bicycles previously, they rode on solid rubber tires. These were puncture-resistant, a boom on roads where nails were frequently shed from horseshoes, but they lacked suspension, were hard to steer, and were an unpleasant ride. This changed by the late 1890s. The market was flooded with steel tubes, ball bearings, variable speed gears, and high-quality chains. Above all else, it was flooded with replaceable rubber tires and inner tubes, mass-produced in the factories of Dunlop in Birmingham, England; Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, France; and Pirelli in Milan, Italy. The bicycle was cheap and popular. People suddenly had a means of freedom that had been unknown."

Bicycle Boom Con't

• Five major tire and rubber companies 1870.

• Goodyear and Goodrich to name a couple.

• U.S. North American rubber imports jumped from 8,109 tons in 1880 to 15,336 in 1890.

• From 1875 to 1900, the U.S. consumed HALF of all the rubber produced in the world.

Rubber: Good, or Bad?

Where did the rubber come from?

• South America and Africa

• Congo Free State early 1900s - Belgium King Leopold.o Population decline from 25 million to 10

milliono 75,000 tons of rubber produced during this

time.o 1 life for every 11 lbs of rubber.

Today: Bike tires are made of synthetic rubber.

Back in S.F...

• Urban development = hazardous conditions for bicyclists.

• Classic S.F. Style: PROTESTo July 25th, 1896 - took to the streets of downtowno 100,000 protestorso Lead to temporary bicycling "high."o Then came the car...

Just two more! Compare and Constrast

Check it. What are the differences?

• Image #1: The Wiggle in S.F.

• Image #2: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Typical streets!

How are we helping to make bicycling ethical and empowering?

• SF Bike Coalition donated the bikes

• Used bicycles recycles the materials.

• Empowering you all to move and transport on your own time.

• ...what else?!

Resources used: http://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/09/22/19th-century-bicycling-rubber-was-the-dark-secret/