MAN AND THE WHEEL

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 60, 12 March 1934, Page 6

MAN AND THE WHEEL

(To the Editor.):' '■■■:. - .Sir,—Amid the'1 torrent'-'of vabu^e and vituperation that, is heaped:' upon the bicycle in general, and its "rider in particular, your refreshing .subileader under the above title in Saturday's "Post" came like'an oasis in the desert. It is true that the bicycle's willingness, tp run is out of all proportion to its, riin'ning costs. The expense of cycle, travel mpst:'be reckoned at a very small fraction of a penny: a mile. I have never bothered to calculate it, and the figure would be so diminutive as to be a nuisance to operate with. ;A shilling tin of oil lasts for; a long time, and a tire repair outfit stays in the toolbag until brie.becomes thoroughly; tired 'of it. Other repairs and replacements are few and far between. In the mairy years during which: I have been' almost continuously riding to- business frpni my 'home in Lower Hutt; I .have nevet .been .late through trouble,-with the' machine; ':. ; It must be'thirty years since Lord Balfour—then:. Mr. Arthur' James Balfour— said: "There has not been 'a more civilising invention in the memory of the present generation.than the invention of the bicycle." The bicycle has played manyparts, and there are those of us who continue to give it a very high place asa "civilising invention." The bicycle's share in the emancipation of woman, to take but one example, can hardly be exaggerated. The bicycle means'something;' to -i'its owner that the non-cyclist, can never derstahd: Nothing can take" its'.'-'place in' its owner's regard. .It is as an instrument of sheer delight that the bicycle makes its greatest impression and bestows - its supreme benefit.; The;tfaVel unit which yields to you 100 %r 200 happy:miles' per week, at an absolute minimum'of cost, is surely something out .ofjthe; ordinary; ?.' • In conclusion, let rhe.-.; quote '"another statesman—the Rt. Hon. Z ArthurVGjpeehr wood: "Cycling," ho "saiys;H"ehables:people to shake, the dust of the cities;from their feet, to. escape for a moment tfrbm the complexities of urban life;- and ;to. enjoy the beauty and solitude, of the countryside either aloue-or with congenial companions. It clarifies their minds as'rwell'as their bodies, and restores sanity, of outlook; and that surely is the object of all our social effort—the fostering and maintenance of a healthy mind iv a healthy body. There is no precept like practice. Ruddy cheeks, shining eyes—these are thedeinonstrations of good health by which cyclists can induce other townsmen to ride the road of bodily happiness. And the reward will be all the greater for the knowledge that, in helping themselves, cyclists are helping their fellow-countrymen, too."—I am, etc., ALFRED E. MILNE.