Digitized Catalogues at the National Cycle Library (UK)

WARNING: Clicking on the links below will almost certainly lead to sleeplessness, extreme feelings of envy and/or desire, and potential loss of marriage.

Doing some research on Phillips today, I found myself checking in with the website of the British National Cycling Collection. It has been a while since I visited, and to my great surprise and delight, I found that they've digitized much more of their library than they had previously. Of particular note are the scanned catalogues, which provide an excellent reference for period restorations of many British-built bicycles.

Although it doesn't add much to my knowledge of my Raleigh-built 1955 Huffy, the image below of the "genuine" Raleigh equivalent (the Sports Light Roadster) is kind of neat to have as a reference. Now, if only we could still order from these catalogues...

How to Crash Your Pennyfarthing

So, this isn't really a bike history blog, but being a historian in "real" life, I can't help but be drawn to bicycling history. Today, the Blog Gods (Bloggods?) smiled upon me with a happy coincidence. Last night, I saw this image of Pennyfarthing trick-riding at BibliOdyssey, which made me smile:

And then this morning, I saw this video posted at The Bicycle Diaries, which brought history to life:

Pennyfarthing Crash

Taken together, I suppose they're a cautionary tale against thinking that our early cycling forefathers were a bunch of dandies and fops. No sir, they were hard-core.

Stanch & Reliable

"The Popular Steeds for Business and Pleasure"

"If I could not get another bicycle I would not give mine for its weight in solid gold. For fifteen years I lost from three to eight days every month with stubborn sick headache. Since I have been riding the bicycle I have lost only two days from that cause, and I haven't spent a dollar for a doctor."

--Rev. George F. Pentecost

Columbia Bicycles and Tricycles Magazine Advert, 1901 (not 1880s as previously stated)

New York Bicycle Cop, ca. 1900

Ticketing the driver of one of the new-fangled automobiles.

Is it me, or is the guy on the bike at left laughing just a bit?

New York in Black and White Gallery @ Tom Fletcher's New York Architecture

Via Neatorama.