RMCC presentation 2: Velocipede Era
The next development in the bicycle was the addition of pedals which was first done in Paris by a French blacksmith Pierre Michaux in the early 1860’s.
This machine became known as a velocipede (hence the french word velo) and again riding schools became popular. By 1869, one year after Pierre Michaux had set up a company to manufacture these machines, the Montreal Evening Star shows that there were at least five such riding schools in the city. One of its articles that year was entitled Velocipede! Velocipede! In which it was reported, I quote:
“In April the "Grand Velocipede Masquerade" was held at the Drill Hall Rink to the tunes of the city's 69th Regiment Band and attracted between forty and fifty riders. Among the highlights was a one-mile race, demonstrations of "fancy riding" and an exhibition on two and three wheeled machines by Boston rider Miss M.J. Frothingham.”
Although the Drill Hall and Crystal Palace no longer exist, one of the buildings that housed these riding schools, still stands. The Nordheimers Hall, had such a riding school located above the the famous Dion Brothers Billiard Room.
Riding a “bone shaker”, a name given to these early machines, was best accomplished on the smooth indoor surfaces that these riding school arenas could provide. During Montreal winters, when the St Lawrence froze solid, there was another opportunity to ride as shown in Canadian Illustrated News, 1870.
The Velocipede was still a heavy, slow, machine barely faster than walking. In order to improve it what was needed was a way to build stronger, lighter wheels.
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