Originally Posted by
Robert Foster
I thought we went from Horse and wagon to car? I don't remember bicycles ever being the majority form of transportation. Now if we didn't have cars and we went back to Horses bicycle riding on the same roadways would get real interesting. A whole new kind of mud to try and avoid.
That certainly would be a good argument for running with fenders.
As I recall from my reading.... In the late 1800's and early 1900's roads were built in cities of the NE US for bicycle traffic and to allow better clean-up of horse droppings. Bicycle speed limits were enacted, posted and enforced by police on bicycles. Most folks couldn't afford an automobile until after Henry Ford's assembly line style of production made cars more affordable. I assume our friends and neighbors to the north experienced the same transition. Many old photos' that I've seen support this info that I seem to recall reading, as does Wikipedia "
Bicycles and horse buggies were the two mainstays of private transportation just prior to the automobile, and the grading of smooth roads in the late 19th century was stimulated by the widespread advertising, production, and use of these devices."