Sunday, June 21, 2015

Cycling in Early 20th c. London

Saw this at BoingBoing today and wanted to share it, since most of us seldom get to see film of early transportational cycling. Although the streets are absolutely mobbed with all manner of people and vehicles, notice how the cyclist at the beginning of the clip cruises so calmly amidst the chaos.
Keep an eye on him as he moves through the shot. You can first see him emerge from behind a large carriage at 00:03, then he zips in front of another and is just to the left of the lady's head before passing behind her at 00:06, and by 00:11, he flies past the camera. It really brings home the idea that, in the early days of cycling, bicycles offered a much faster way of getting around a city than traveling by carriage or street car.

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