Evelyn Hamilton cycling safety tips

The English Evelyn Hamilton was a celebrated endurance and racing cyclist in the 1930s.

Among her feats was cycling 100 miles everyday for 100 days to ‘to prove that women could equal men in physical fitness and endurance’.

Evelyn Hamilton is featured in this short bicycle tips film from 1936, demonstrating bike style as well as safety.

  • ‘observe her practical winter kit’
  • ‘waterproof overalls are essential’ for cycling in wet English weather.
  • Hair should be ‘fixed like this’

 

 

Especially important are the ‘unforgivable cycling sins’ that ‘make motorists mad and cyclists sometimes silent forever.’

  • Overtaking a car on the inside is just another way of asking to be bumped off.
  • Passing on the offside and cutting in is a quick way to the mortuary.
  • So is shooting out without regard for oncoming traffic.
  • This man was actually hanging on [skitching on a truck] while we were filming!
  • Riding without holding the handlebars is about as clever as giving a balloon to a hedgehog. So don’t!



Is Ms Hamilton riding a fixed gear bike in the video?

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