THE CONQUERING 'CYCLE.'

Clutha Leader, Volume XXIII, Issue 1141, 17 July 1896, Page 6

THE CONQUERING 'CYCLE.'

— . « Sarah A. Tooley gives in the Woman at Home a pleasing sketch of Princess Maud of Wales, and does justice to the royal maiden's independence of character and love of fun. Incidental evidence is borne to the way in which the cycle is ousting the horse in the circles which have most influence on fashion :— Knowing how devoted Princess Maud is to animals, and that she has always been the best equestrienne in the family her friends have felt some surprise at the enthusiasm with which she has taken to the bicycle. At ©ne time she rode her saddle-horse daily, but now that beautiful creature sighs in vain for its fair and fearless rider, for the horse with wheels has quite superseded him in her favour. A characteristic reason was given for this change by a man on the estate. " Yes," he Baid to me, " the Princesses don't often come out on horseback now — you see they finds the bicycles so much handier. " It would be impossible to find a more graceful and expert rider of the bicycle than Princess Maud. She sits perfectly upright, without the slightest approach to the stoop which so many cyclists seem unable to avoid, and her feet work the pedals without any apparent effort. Her cycling dress \& of black or navy blue, and consists of .a short, narrow serge skirt, tight-fitting jacket and vest, and a small hat turned up at the sides, or a toque to match her dress. She appears to find this costume easy and comfortable, and has never adopted any approach to the rational 4ress. Mud has no terrors for her, for I "have had the pleasure of seeing her spinning along the Sandringham roads just after a. thaw, where one hardly knew where to walk to avoid the slush. She is a very rapid rider, and is generally seen well in advance of her sister, the Princess Victoria, who, though an equally graceful rider, is less adventurous. When the Princesses are out cycling their mother's pony^carraige is not far away,