From the Library: Old Wheelways

"For roughly two decades, from 1880 to 1900, bicycles and bicyclists shaped and reshaped American social, cultural, economic, and industrial history; introduced an independent and dependable means of overland travel; propelled a campaign to improve the nation's pitiful network of roads; influenced the appearance of cities in subtle way; swayed park planners; and set into motion the modern machine and engineering technology essential to the development of automobiles and airplanes." Refining the content of Old Wheelways to a single paragraph might look something like that which, naturally enough, comes early in the book. Fleshing all that out seems like a monumental task even if as the author did, the scope is limited to a, relatively, narrow geographic region, in this case the northeastern states.

Along the way a lot of ground gets covered; the travels of bicyclists along rural routes, roads and tracks, and their written description contributed to an increased general understanding beyond the areas of urban borders. As travel by bicycle increased dramatically in popularity during the late 1800s, the increase led to need, and demand, for improved routes for bicyclists. The creation of sidepaths, precursors to the various forms of bike lanes and protected bikeways of today, is explored in detail, with descriptions of many specific paths given, as well as examinations of the various obstacles to their creation and maintenance. I have learned to not be surprised to discover parallels to the creation of bike infrastructure one hundred years, and more, later. Yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. It might be disheartening, until you realize that throughout the spread of automobile dominance, the bicycle remains, still relevant and increasingly so.

Throughout the book it was easy to discern an emphasis on travel, leisure, and recreation, activities taking place, principally beyond the city. In two chapters at the end the author turns attention to urban parks in the larger cities of the East - how park planners viewed the place of bicycles and bicyclists in the fabric of park use. In another parallel with the past, it is clear that cyclists have always had to fight for what little space they could get. "Bicycle riding itself is minimized in our parks, if not actually discouraged, on grounds of safety" - Victor Brown, Director of Recreation, Chicago's Park District

Perhaps, and needless to say, anyone involved in policy and advocacy might very well find Old Wheelways to be of relevance for its historical precedence, as well as anyone interested in the history of bicycling and transportation. I have to confess that there were times I let myself get bogged down with simply saying the words, rather than reading the meaning in them - there is a lot of information in this book. Fortunately every few pages there is a map, photograph or illustration to help break up the wealth of text.

McCullough, Robert L.  Old Wheelways: Traces of Bicycle History on the Land

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2015