Cycling as a sport did not gain much popularity at Mount Allison although the school did produce one athlete of regional repute. The importance of cycling rests instead on the cultural shift it paved for women's sports.
The bicycle is believed to be the most efficient means of transportation powered by human energy. The first self-propelled bicycle was invented in Scotland by Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839. His machine had two swinging cranks on the front that were attached to the back wheel by rods and levers. In 1861 two Frenchmen, Pierre and Ernest Michaux, created a bicycle with pedals attached to the front wheel. Its iron frame and heavy weight, sometimes over 68 kilograms, earned it the nickname of "boneshaker." The "penny-farthing" bicycle was invented in 1870 by Englishman James Starley. Although lighter than its predecessor owing to the use of wire spokes, a typical "penny-farthing" bicycle still weighed approximately 23 kilograms, and the size of the front wheels ranged from 100 to 150 centimeters in diameter. Great skill was needed to balance, steer, and ride these bicycles.
The first "safety" bicycle was invented in 1874 by H.J. Lawson, but it was not until the introduction of pneumatic tires by John Boyd Dunlop in 1888 that its popularity really took off in Canada and around the world in the 1890s. The safety bicycle had two wheels of equal size and medium diameter with a chain between the sprocket and rear wheel. It was light, easier to steer, and more comfortable than its predecessors. The affordability of the safety bicycle also allowed people of all classes and both genders to access them more easily. Women were able to participate equally with men in the new sporting "craze." [1]
The first indication of bicycle use at Mount Allison or in Sackville is in an 1888 photograph of the Male Academy class. [2] In it student Harry P. Wisely is seen holding a "penny farthing" bicycle. Another photograph circa 1895, shows Male Academy students Fred Dayton, Herbert Mariner Wood, and Mansel Shewen on safety bicycles. [3]
Cycling for women typified new reforms in physical emancipation and fashion. It allowed women to be self-reliant, and it was easier to ride bicycles in the new fashions that included shorter skirts or bloomers [4] and soft flexible shoes. In a November 21, 1897 issue of the Chignecto Post newspaper it mentioned that there were "in the vicinity of 25 wheels at the [Ladies'] college."[5] Mount Allison teachers were also bicyclists in 1897. [6]
In March 1898 Mount Allison student Ralph E. Smith won a gold brick worth $250 (presented by Goold Bicycle Co., based in Brantford, Ontario) [7] for winning nine out of a possible 11 races in the Maritimes. [8] He later attended McGill University and continued to compete with success against other amateur cyclists. [9] Aside from Smith there are no further indications that Mount Allison students raced bicycles competitively before or during the First World War.
Individuals (left to right): Fred Dayton, Herbert Mariner Wood, Mansel Shewen
Mount Allison University Archives, Mariner Black fonds, accession 2007.35/7/9. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives
Individuals include: Bailey, Sedgewick A.; Ryan, Wofford M.; Sutcliffe, Ernest; Scoville, George; Marshall, Alpheus B.; Turner, John William; Townsend, Robert E.; Angel, John E.; Keswick, David Harris; Bailey, David B.; White, George; Allen, [?]; Foster, G. Seward; McDougall, James A.; Alexander, R. Percival; [unidentified]; Black, Percy W.; Morrow, Arthur F.; Spicer, L. Percy; Layton, Joseph E.; Murchie, Fred E.; Forbes, Fred P.; Oxley, George H.; Fullerton, Mary J.; Davis, Minnie; Lockhart, William Mortimer; Davis, Thompson T.; Smith, George A.; Mitchell, George A; Keith, Murray Bliss; Wisely, Harry P.; Purdy, Charles Allison; Chapman, Amos B.; Bonnell, Saul; Archibald, Raymond Clare; Dakin, Blair; Young, Everett; Bluck, John.
Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/80. May be reproduced only with permission of Mount Allison University Archives
[1] History of the development of bicycles sourced from Encyclopaedia Britannica: Macropaedia, 15th ed., 1977, “Bicycle,” p. 981-2
[2] Mount Allison University Archives, Picture Collection, accession 2007.07/81
[3] Mount Allison University Archives, Mariner Black fonds, accession 2007.35
[4] The Girl and the Game: A History of Women's Sport in Canada, by M. Ann Hall, 2002, p. 17
[5] Chignecto Post, Sep. 21, 1897, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 1
[6] Chignecto Post, Sep. 21, 1897, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/1, p. 1
[7] See http://www.civilization.ca/cpm/catalog/ip/1222174e.html
[8] Chignecto Post, Mar. 22, 1898, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/4, p. 62
[9] [untitled, s.d.], clipping, located in Mount Allison University Archives, R.C. Archibald fonds, accession 5501/6/1/4, p. 89. Note: this article appears in The Register newspaper of the Town of Berwick, Kings County, Nova Scotia, 26 October 1898 (found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~canbrnep/oct261898.htm).