CYCLING AND NERVE STRAIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2389, 14 December 1899, Page 41

CYCLING AND NERVE STRAIN.

A BOGIE EASILY DESTROYED. When an argument against cycling is wan. led, and even now there are many ready to raise one, it is usual to condemn the bicycle on the score of the continual strain on the nervous system. This strain, we are told, lies in the constant effort to maintain the balance ! It seems useless to explain that thia effort doeß not exist ; that the cyclist who has once conquered the machine balances himself with as little effort as he draws breath, and quite as unconsciously. The accusation ii made by people who are either entirely ignorant of cycling, or who are still in theil novitiate, and quite unable' to understand that it is far more difficult to fall off the bicycle than to remain on, after the balance has once been learnt. But the nerve strain is there while learning,- they will say, and this with some truth, although the harm done during such a short time must be so trifling, and so amply compensated for by the after benefits, that it cannot be worth consideration. The perilous journey of a baby from a "chair to the mother's arms must be a terrible strain on the nervous system, but it has not been thought necessary to warn mothers against the evils of teaching their children to walk; and in learning cycling we are only trying another method of locomotion. Far from being a strain on the nerves, eye-, ling is one of the most effectual means of relieving the nervouß tension that is wearing -most of us out before our time. The. two crying evila now are overwork and worry, "and > "'1 '*> ' \ <;

the bicycle isthe cure forboth. - What more effectual- remedy for overwrought nerves can >be found than a quiet ride in the country after tho day'B toil, especially as the cyclist never pursues a connected thread of thought, and thus cannot worry about anything? ■There is a purpose in the exercise, little fatigue in taking it, fresh country air to enrich ;the blood, pleasant companionship or solitude as may be desired, and a constant change of scene. If all these advantages are obtained, ttt would be even worth a little nerve strain; jbut, unless cycling is abused, the nerves may |bs in a state of quietude, since balancing is perfectly automatic. \ But there is another side of the question. -There is no doubt that doctors have had cases of illness causad by cycling, and some, maybe, nervous diseases. If these were carefully investigated, they would be found to be the result of abuse, and not use, of cycling, and often of nervous troubles that dated back to 'long before the jpatient took to the bicycle. jfWhen a doctor has such a case, he .should be sure of the antecedents of the patient and the land of cycling practised, before issuing a verdict against a pastime which has been found ■the brainworker's best friend. Nerve exhaustion may. result from traffic-riding, the effort v to ride the pace* or distance of stronger riders, /the nerve strain of racing on a rmall and dangerous track, or of persistently practising 'some forms of trick riding; but there iB a great deal of difference between doing these .things and the reasonable country ride. A nervous subject may also be months before lie feels at home on the bicycle, and during this time cycling may have an exhausting effect, which a doctor might well piit down to the exercise. In reality, the imagination of the patient is alone to blame ; he makes up his mind that hia balance is kept with difficulty, and the only cure is to prove to him that he cannot fall unless he deliberately wills it. Those German medicos who are too brainy to look at a thing from a common-sense point of view are wrong when they say riding is a j severe strain. — The Cycle.