Road Etiquette for Bicyclers

The basis of good manners in bicycling, as of good manners in everything else, is common sense and kindness. The whole manual of etiquette might be boiled down into the maxim "Use your head." 

Common Sense and Kindness Are the Basis of Action

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“Use Your Head” the Maxim

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What to Do in Cases of Emergency

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Quite Proper to Speak to a Wheelwoman In Distress Without an Introduction

Now that wheeling has ceased to be a fad and become a part of a normal life, a whole ritual is rapidly becoming as necessary to it, as life in a ball room. The basis of good manners in bicycling, as of good manners in everything else, is common sense and kindness. The whole manual of etiquette might be boiled down into the maxim "Use your head." 

Bicycling is more in need of a set of rules for behavior because of the peculiar conditions under which the sport is carried on. Men and women ride side by side for miles, and while a woman ostensibly, and voluntarily, puts herself on the same footing as her escort, by accepting the same conditions, she is still the weak member of the firm and needs a certain amount of helping to enjoyment and forbearance on hiils. 

One should never let his selfish desire to “plug” up a good hill for instance, pull him away from the aide of a lady whose weaker muscles (as well as a heavier wheel) make it necessary to dismount humbly and meekly at the foot and walk up. Of course, you show her how easy it is, and what a strong rider you are, and you can dismount at the top and wait for her, but it isn't kind. It's lonesome walking hills alone. 

It is always proper to speak to a wheel woman in distress without an introduction, but no service rendered to a woman in the road entitles a man to her acquaintance. 

In following a narrow path the rule is, “ladies first and leave a good distance behind them.” 

If a lady's wheel is so damaged tbat it must be taken some distance for repairs, leave your wheel with her while you take hers to the shop. 

As to the rules of the road, they are pretty well understood. Pass an approaching wheelman, vehicle or pedestrian on the right, and pass anything going in the same direction as yourself on the left. 

When you come up behind anything ring your bell. 

The rule for position has always been “ride on the left hand side of the lady,” and the reason is simply that one may have his good right arm ready to assist her, if it be necessary. Following this reasoning, it would seem that a left-handed man should reverse the position. But there is another reason in this rule for position, which is that riding on the right side of the road, the man is always between the lady and any vehicle that may pass them. 

Should you come up to a wagon at such a time that you will be forced to pass between it and another approaching team, take the lead and in a way, force open a passage for her to come through. Ride near the right hand horse as you pass him and do not pull over to the left until the lady has plenty of room in front of the horse.

At a corner, if you see cyclists on the cross street, go a little slow till you find out which of the three possible courses they mean to take. A slight turn to the left by you gives them a better chance to get by, but too much would cut them off from riding down the street up which you have come. Always be ready to give way rather than sprint by. Don't be ashamed to dismount. 

If you meet a runaway, a brass band and a bunch of wheelmen filling up the whole street, you will be better off on the ground than giving an exhibition of trick riding and fancy dodging. 

Lastly, in the city riding, remember that though the car you see may be going away from you, and you have plenty of time to get by the wagon, that cars on the other track come the other way and that if you are sprinting you may not be able to stop in time to clear the hidden foe. Also, an electric car comes out of a collision in better shape usually than either a man or a wheel.

Go slow and turn to the left till you find out what the other people mean to do. Don't cut them off. Look out for this. Don't try to sprint by the team. There may be a second car on the further track which you can't see. In a case of this kind, dismount. — Los Angeles Herald, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

More Etiquette for Cycling

The instructors in the big academies, where women are taught to ride, their bodies are being educated in the mysteries of the “bike.”

Are You Up to Bike Manners?

There Is a Need of a Leader in Wheeling Etiquette

A Fashionable Girl's Lament

Polite Rules of the Road As Laid Down Her Instructor— What She Must and Must Not Do

NEW YORK— Young ladies of the fashionable world, and for that matter the older ones too, who have become late of the wheel, have recently been discussing the urgent need of a recognized formula of bicycle etiquette. 

As far as wheeldom is concerned, the sport is in its infancy; everything is crude and unconventional to the delicately nurtured social eye, and the young buds of the ballroom are all at sea when they find themselves out on the road spinning along on the democratic "bike." 

It may not be long before regular professors of bicycle deportment will be making the rounds of the homes of the rich, instructing the maids and matrons of the etiquette of the wheel, just as the little boys and girls are now being taught the polite arts of the ballroom. 

But at the moment everything is chaotic in this most important field of the fashionable woman. She uses her good common sense, and her innate gentility is sufficient guide to correctly meet the ordinary happenings of life a-wheel, but bicycling is no ordinary sport, and happenings of an extraordinary kind continually occur. 

The laws of conventional life cannot apply to these unforeseen events, and the well-bred woman who insists upon being conventional and at the same time a bicyclist, does not know quite where she is at. The instructors in the big academies, where women are taught to ride, their bodies are being educated in the mysteries of the "bike."

Here are some of the etiquette rules which a fashionable girl said she received from the woman instructor of the academy where she rides. Be acknowledged that she may have forgotten some of them, just as she forgets the vital point in the art of dismounting, and frequently comes a nasty cropper in consequence. 

                     

• The 
  first one was, never criticise a fellow bicyclist, particularly if she is a woman and inclined to stoutness. The moral of this is that you may be stout yourself in a few years, and a bicycle rider for the sole purpose of reducing weight. 

• Another is, when you are riding in the park or on the road and a cranky horse comes along which rears and plunges at sight of your bicycle, always dismount without delay and turn your wheel flat on the ground. Serious runaway accidents can sometimes be averted by a little courtesy of this kind. It only takes a minute or two of time, and as all women bicyclists ride for pleasure, that much lost time is of little consequence to them. 

• Always keep to the right in riding. You may be called names if you forget this rule on a crowded road. 

• In passing a vehicle or wheel going in the same direction, it is usually safest to go by them on the left. 

• Try to foster the feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood among all wheelers. Remember that accidents happen to the best bicyclists, just as they do in the best regulated families. 

• If anything goes wrong with a man or woman wheeler, render any assistance you can. No man will take advantage of such assistance to thrust his acquaintance upon you at a future time, he would run the risk of ostracism by fellow bicyclists who, perhaps, have sisters, wives or sweethearts devoted to the sport. 

• If you are unfortunate enough to have an accident happen to your wheel, do not hesitate to accent the proffered assistant of the first wheelman who comes along. If he is the right kind, as he probably will be, he will set your wheel right and then pursue his journey. Should he ever pass you again he will give no sign that he had ever met you before. 

• Don't be afraid to mention the word bloomers in the presence of a man. If he be versed in bike manners, as all true wheelers should be, he will regard the word purely as one for ordinary conversation, as it surely is in bicycle talk. 

• If one fears the attention of pedestrians wear a veil, but not thick enough to affect the vision. It will protect the face from dust and thoroughly conceal identity. 

• Don't try to ride rapidly. Fast riders meet with accident sooner or later, and a woman in a smash-up does not appear to advantage. It's bad bike form too. 

• For the same reason, be careful about coasting and always be certain in advance that the brake is in good working order. 

• Always respect the feelings of pedestrians, and be careful of their safety. In streets frequently crossed, ride as slowly as possible. Kindly consideration of the pedestrians will beget the same for the wheeler. 

Thus it can be seen that the true woman wheeler has more to learn in bicycling than the mere pushing of pedals. – New York, 1895

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia