Bike short trauma

On the scale of clothing trauma bike shorts rate nowhere near bathing suits but I can't say that bike short shopping was all that fun.

A couple of fun quotes from Frances E. Willard on clothing (recall she was learning to ride around 1895)

"If women ride they must, when riding, dress more rationally than they have been wont to do...A woman with bands hanging on her hips, and a dress snug about the waist and chokingly tight at the throat, with heavily trimmed skirts dragging down the back and numerous folds heating the lower part of the spine, and with tight shoe, ought to be in agony."

"It is needless to say that a bicycling costume was a prerequisite. This consisted of a skirt and blouse of tweed, with belt, rolling collar, and loose cravat, the skirt three inches from the ground; a round straw heat, and walking shoes with gaiters."

I wonder what she'd think of my new nylon, spandex and polyester number? I also got a fun pair of socks. The girl is flexing her muscles and saying "grrr".

"She who succeeds in gaining mastery of the bicycle will gain mastery of life"

I found the most amazing book at the bookstore today. It's called "How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle ~ Reflections of an influential 19th century woman~" by Frances E. Willard. She was the president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union from 1879 to 1898. At the age of 53 she decided to learn to ride a bicycle; very plucky. The book was all of 99 cents and was the perfect read for my obscenely long commute (which surprisingly was not so evil today). I read the last page as the train pulled into my station.

It's full of fine quotables which I'll share over the next little while.