Mrs. Adeline Felt with her daughter in this bicycle basket. Photo from the Mountain West Digital Library, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. 

I am fascinated with archival photos of women on bicycles. Perhaps because they are relatively scarce, especially shots showing women with their children on bikes. In this particular shot, Mrs. Felt (who is wearing a skirt, which in my view was more dominant than the acclaimed bloomers). Even more interesting than the lovely and stylish Adaline Felt is her daughter and her daughter’s bike basket. Attached to the handlebars, this baby bike seat has no visible restraints, and I can’t even see a method for keeping the baby in the seat. It reminds me of the time I had one of my sons in the stroller and for some reason did not fasten the middle cloth strip that keep a baby’s legs in separate stroller compartments. I think I did this (not fasten the cloth strip) because the baby was wrapped in a blanket. I’m embarrassed to say that said baby slipped right out of the stroller and onto the sidewalk once said stroller was in motion. I’m happy to say no injuries were sustained.

In Baby Felt’s case, we can only imagine that she (or he) was smart enough to hold tight, as tight as she is holding here with the bike at a standstill!

here’s a link to the photo source if you like to try to glean more: http://thoth.library.utah.edu:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=MWDL&afterPDS=true&docId=digcoll_byu_12GEA/1531

This year it’s the second annual CycloFemme ride, with nearly 160 different rides around the country and flung out to various spots in the world. A big-tent sisterhood of riders, doing all types of riding, celebrating women and bikes. Just that. In Portland, Oregon we have two rides registered – a 23-miler and a 10-miler, both ending at the season’s first car-free Sunday Parkways in East Portland. Tattoos, cupcakes, and balloons, not to mention a fun ride. But wherever you are, go out for a ride that day and register your ride at the CycloFemme site. The tent can always be bigger.