On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 20:46:08 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 6/23/2019 7:58 PM, John B. wrote:
On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 14:06:48 -0700 (PDT), Chalo
wrote:

In the early days of cycling, it was the pastime of rich fux, which
gave it a certain implied legitimacy. Then for a time, it was the
leading edge of high tech, to the point that the US government opened
a second patent office just to serve cycling-related patents. So when
this coalition of rich fux and tech boffins (and folks who aspired to
be them) asked for some decent pavement, we started to get decent
pavement.

It was the moral equivalent of today's public resources being thrown
around to develop 5G, or yesterday's public resources being squandered
to subsidize jet travel or freeways or railroads. Then as now, the
rich and influential can use other people's money to get what they
want. Sometimes it works out for those who pay the cost, and
sometimes it doesn't. In the case of Good Roads, I think it worked in
favor of almost everybody.


That makes a nice story but I did research the subject at some length
and yes, cyclists did complain loudly about the rough roads but the
real reason for making smooth roads in the U.S. was due to the rapid
growth of automobile ownership in the early years of the 20th century.
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of...-roads-4077442

As for bicycles being used by the rich, I believe that exactly the
opposite is correct as the tremendous growth in bicycle use in the very
late 1800's and early 1900's must have been largely a growth in use by
the middle class. In fact I would suggest that "rich folks" as a class
were probably among the lowest participants in the cycling craze. After
all, one had the coachman and a horse and carriage, why would one want
to ride a bicycle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bike_boom
https://patch.com/minnesota/southwes...ycle-craze-of-
the-1890s
--
cheers,

John B.



Rider reports of the era extolled the bicycle's main virtue to the
greater unwashed, that being travel without an actual (expensive) horse:

https://www.alibris.com/How-I-Learne...e-Reflections-
of-an-Influential-19th-Century-Woman-Frances-Elizabeth-Willard/
book/3009964?matches=22
For an Australian Bicycle History, Jim Fitzpatrick wrote "The Bicycle and
The Bush" about the common mans use of bicycles outside towns. Massive
number of labourers moved about during the various seasons. Sadly, t
never made it on line.