krls204 5. women's bike riding

earlier bikes (before the high-wheel)

earlier bikes had no pedals. just pushed with feet. wasn’t until 1860 that petals were added. bikes were called bone crushers because wheels were made of wood, and when u travel on rough roads its literally bone crushing

high-wheel bike (HW)

giant ahh wheel with a supporting back wheel. also called penny farthing cause penny was a big coin. if u hit a pothole or something its ggs ur flying away

later bikes (after the high-wheel)

more safe, because the wheels were the same size, the quality got better

1868

women began racing in the early days with the first pedal bike.

conceptions of women riding bikes

• depicts females on bikes, usually HWs, in poses to appeal to men (very solicitous, were in provocative or no clothing). also advertises chewing of tobacco.

• no mention of women who raced the HW, so those who read this book thought that women with a HW were just seen as provocative posers when in reality many HW rider women were professionals

women were…

• effectively excluded from high-wheel bicyling activities like the clubs and were only allowed to participate in marginalized events.

• historians argue that women did not participate in highwheels at all (which is very clearly not true lol)

biking was not originally a gendered activity

the bike itself became a bike object, effectively male, and bikes have been gendered to accommodate for women in skirts.

• but the only thing that restricted women WAS their clothing. the “eras” completely ignore obv class divisions, and rendered women’s athletic activity in the high-wheel era invisible

Louise Armaindo

• Real name was Louise (or Louisa) Bris(e)bois

• Born Oct. 12, 1857 in St. Anne-de-Bellevue (nr. Montreal)

• Mother had been a strongwoman and circus performer (mother died tragically, possibly in 1867)

• At age 14, Louise followed in mother’s steps

• First find her (as Louise Armaindo) in Chicago in 1877 performing as a strongwoman and trapeze artist

• By 1878, Louise had teamed up with Canadian Tom Eck, also in Chicago, as pedestrians (Eck became her manager)

• loved people betting on her, loved winning, was very boastful. rode bent over the handlebars

more about louise armaindo + her racing

• raced professionally till 1881-1893.

• Constantly on the move, travelled primarily in the US. raced in towns, cities, states in the great lakes. had a base in either chicago or minneapolis. also raced in europe! broke many records and speeds.

• Only raced men and horses. often given handicapp or headstarts so its pointless tho.

• one record that sh is most proud of— 1883, in the chigaco armery, louise, woodside an morgan took part in a 6 day, 6 hr race. she won fair and sqaure and won the championship of the US. woo! record stood for many years too

elsa von blumen

was very modest and demure in comparison to armaindo. did pedestrian and HW to improve her health. competed against men and horses and didnt allow gambling at her performances. rode upright

thomas (tom) w. eck

• Born: 1856 (similar age to louise)

• Canadian (Ontario)

• Lived in USA from 1877

• Died: 1926

• louise’s trainer, manager, agent for both pedestrienne and HW careers, and was also most likely her lover! tom was often called her husband but they never married

• interested in hosting 6 dy races as a manager and promoter

6 day contests

• were veeery popular. mon-sat (sun is rest day and sport was forbidden), usually indoors in a tent or building if lucky. commercially profiters, allowed companies to sell their bikes and related products, and was also a host site for gambling

• riders were on their bikes for 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12 hours a time depending on the type of race they were doing. for 12 hours, fought exhaustion and sleep deprivation and some even fell asleep while riding, causing crashes

6 day races + promotions brought more men into louise’s life

consisted of (but not limited to) woodside, higham, rollinson, morgan, and prince. they taught her how to ride, and accepted louise as a part of x racing team.

• after a specific race morgan even said “you have no idea the wonderful capabilities in cycling and there is not a woman on this world who can stand such an ordeal. her endurance is something phenomenal, and after her longjohn she did not feel the effects to any extent. there is no woman who can approach her and but a few men.”

promoters realized…

women can make money too, so now female 6 day races wre being organized and now more women were being trained

Three members of Tom Eck’s “Beauty on Wheels” touring troupe

helen baldwin, jessie oakes, jessie woods

• also technically included louise. travelled to city to city in US , doing 6 day races. louise is 32 at this time (got fatter and obv older so she couldn’t do 8 hr for 6 days anymore so she did 5 mile races instead

some more HW racers

at least 20 professional HW women in 1880’s. earned their livings as athlete

• some people are lottie stanley, may allen, lillie wiliams (on her safety racer)

the switch to safety bikes

• men switched to safety bikes in 1890s but women took longer to swtich.

• louise never rode a safety bike (in a race)

the big five

Lizzie Glaw, Helen Baldwin, May Allen, Tillie Anderson, and Dottie Farnsworth

• baldwin and allen the only two from the HW era

What happened to Louise Armaindo?

• last race in 1893.

• struggled to find venues were to race, shorter races were more popular and louise hated it lmao.

• nov 1896 in buffalo we dk but she was disporting herself in a window store? also a training store where she could have been working idk in buffalo, nov 2, her hotel catches fire.

• she is on the 3/4th floor and the hotel had nailed shut the window for security reasons and jumps out the other window and lands on a shed. had internal injured, broke her pelvis. she tried to sue the hotel owner for no safety and she won the appeal at first but then lost it lol