Read the excerpt from Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change.Von Blumen, for one, saw herself as a role model, especially for other females. "In presenting myself to the public in my bicycle exercises," she told The Bicycling World magazine in 1881, "I feel I am not only offering the most novel and fascinating entertainment now before the people, but am demonstrating the great need of American young ladies, especially, of physical culture and bodily exercise. Success in life depends upon vigorous and healthy body as upon clear and active mind.”
Read the excerpt from Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change.Not surprisingly, Rinehart wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. In 1894, she testified at the annual conventional of the Colorado State Medical Society about the benefits of the divided skirt for female cyclists. “It is almost impossible for a lady to ride any distance . . . with the ordinary skirt,” she told the mostly male audience. “You get too much of the dress on one side of the wheel, and you do not get enough of the dress on the other side.” Rinehart’s success brought her a number of product endorsements, including Stearns bicycles, Samson tires, and the Rinehart Skirt, a divided skirt designed in her honor by a seamstress in Denver.
Read the excerpt from Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change.Annie Londonderry wasn't the only one who pushed the limits of time and distance on her two-wheeler. In the late 1890s, several women took the concept of riding a century—100 miles—to the extreme by peeling off two, three, four, or more centuries in a row. Perhaps the greatest female century rider performed outside the spotlight. Dora Rinehart’s exploits hardly ever were reported beyond the western United States, where the Colorado native earned the title “America’s Greatest Cyclienne.” Rinehart took up the bicycle to regain her strength after suffering scarlet fever. She started with short rides, but quickly built up her endurance. In 1896 alone, she pedaled 17,196 miles, more than any other woman in the United States. That included stretches of 10 days in July and 20 days from October 31 through November 19 when she rode a century every day.
Read the excerpt from Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change.Jane Yatman never challenged Jane Lindsay’s 800-mile record. Instead, she found a new venue for her long-distance cycling. In 1900, she rode from New York to Chicago—approximately 1,050 miles—in 254 hours and 40 minutes.
Which sentence could effectively be placed in a summary of Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change because it expresses a key idea objectively?
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