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01-23-08, 03:30 AM
On Saturday, September 24, 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower had his first heart attack. His personal physician was Dr. Paul Dudley White. Dr. White was a very enthusiastic and vocal advocate of exercise. He especially liked riding a bicycle and rode one, himself. He urged President Eisenhower to ride a bicycle as part of his recovery and the President did follow his doctor's advice. White was eventually asked to write an exercise program for schoolchildren based on riding bicycles. His advocacy of cycling through his place in the news following the President's first heart attack had a corollary impact on many of us who ride today eventually becoming involved with cycling as more than something kids do when they are young.
Other factors in adults riding bicycles inclue the return of US soldiers from Europe at the end of World War II. They had encountered lightweight bicycles in Europe, like the English 3-speed, and began to demand the same at home instead of the heavy "cast iron clunkers" common at the time.
Also important was the election of John F. Kennedy as President in 1960. Many wanted to be like the young President. Not only did Boston rockers suddenly become immensely popular, but people also followed the Kennedy family's penchant for exercise. But, there was also some push in the schools for children to be more active and exercise more. (Television in every home had become a reality in the late 1950s, largely through the entertainment impact of Milton Berle on the Texaco Star Theater. Its impact on the sedentary lifestyle was beginning already then.) Another reason for encouraging more exercise among kids was the discovery during the Korean War of the early 1950s that seemingly healthy young soldiers killed in battle already showed evidences of heart disease. Another factor in many people riding bicycles today was Dr. Kenneth Cooper's book, Aerobics, published in 1970. About the same time Eugene A. Sloane published the first edition of his Complete Book of Bicycling. In 1972 more bicycles were sold in the USA than automobiles.
There are several events that led to the popularity of riding a bicycle; but September 24, 1955 is probably (and indirectly) the single most important day.
(Surely someone has laid all of this out in a book somewhere. I came to it through reading some things and remembering some others. Perhaps some of you can add to or correct what I have written here. Had he not been assassinated in 1963, my years in high school would have overlapped John Kennedy's years as President exactly.)
Other factors in adults riding bicycles inclue the return of US soldiers from Europe at the end of World War II. They had encountered lightweight bicycles in Europe, like the English 3-speed, and began to demand the same at home instead of the heavy "cast iron clunkers" common at the time.
Also important was the election of John F. Kennedy as President in 1960. Many wanted to be like the young President. Not only did Boston rockers suddenly become immensely popular, but people also followed the Kennedy family's penchant for exercise. But, there was also some push in the schools for children to be more active and exercise more. (Television in every home had become a reality in the late 1950s, largely through the entertainment impact of Milton Berle on the Texaco Star Theater. Its impact on the sedentary lifestyle was beginning already then.) Another reason for encouraging more exercise among kids was the discovery during the Korean War of the early 1950s that seemingly healthy young soldiers killed in battle already showed evidences of heart disease. Another factor in many people riding bicycles today was Dr. Kenneth Cooper's book, Aerobics, published in 1970. About the same time Eugene A. Sloane published the first edition of his Complete Book of Bicycling. In 1972 more bicycles were sold in the USA than automobiles.
There are several events that led to the popularity of riding a bicycle; but September 24, 1955 is probably (and indirectly) the single most important day.
(Surely someone has laid all of this out in a book somewhere. I came to it through reading some things and remembering some others. Perhaps some of you can add to or correct what I have written here. Had he not been assassinated in 1963, my years in high school would have overlapped John Kennedy's years as President exactly.)