“If you don’t know, I should’ve done it harder. Be polite and listen up. You might learn something,” she whispered.
Miss Spence continued on as if nothing had happened. “Bicycling will not only improve your health, but you will also come to recognize it as a freedom machine. I’ve recently come from Massachusetts, where I witnessed with my own eyes Annie Londonderry setting out on her bicycle to wheel around the world. Like Nellie Bly, who only a few short years ago traveled around the world unaccompanied, Annie Londonderry is demonstrating what the new woman is capable of achieving.”
Heads nodded around the room. The male operatives had told them how much they like cycling. You didn’t have to ask permission to take the horse out, or spend so much time walking.
“I will teach you first to get on the seat, to pedal, to turn, and to dismount. A bicycle is not as expensive as a horse. It is within reach of all of you, especially these new safety bicycles. They even have skirt guards on the back tire, although if you are serious about wheeling, I suggest reform clothes.”
Everyone couldn’t help but look at Mim. She gave them all a grimace.
The bicycle looked fun. If Briar had one of those, she could go back and forth to the cottage every night instead of living in the boardinghouse. She added the idea of purchasing a bicycle to her list of possible ways to keep the family together.
“Susan B. Anthony says herself that the bicycle ‘has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives them a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.’ Furthermore, ‘The moment she takes her seat she knows she can’t get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.’”
Miss Spence slapped the seat. “And even Frances Willard promotes riding the bicycle to help women to a wider world.” She paused and smiled at them one by one. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”
Miss Spence’s sermon over, she clapped her hands. “Who wants to go first?”
“If I’m to teach the girls, I’d better learn first,” Miss Olive said.
In all eagerness, the mill girls filed out of the house and lined up along the porch. The sun had gone behind the mountains and the lamplighter had already started turning on the gas street lamps, creating scattered puddles of pale yellow on the dirt road.
With Miss Spence holding the bicycle, Miss Olive gathered her skirts and hoisted herself onto the seat with a giggle.
“Do as I demonstrated earlier,” admonished Miss Spence. “Your body’s natural sense of balance will take over if you do not hesitate. Push and don’t stop pedaling. The pedals turn with the back wheel so your feet will keep rotating with the wheel. If you need a rest, or you feel your skirts are getting twisted in the pedals, put your feet up on these coaster brackets.”
And with that, the two women set off, Miss Olive laughing loud, and Miss Spence running to keep up.
“She’s doing it!” called the mill girls encouragingly. “Keep going, Miss Olive!”
Neighbors opened their doors to see what was going on, and soon it looked like a parade with people lined up on the street watching. Miss Spence was coaching Miss Olive on how to turn when the front wheel began to wobble. The girls held their collective breaths and watched. She straightened out and began cycling back confidently, breaking away from the attentions of Miss Spence.
Suddenly she shrieked. “Look out, girls!” She drove through the middle of the crowd, the girls parting like the Red Sea as she plowed straight into the hedge at the side of the house with a crash.
Miss Spence followed close behind. “Are you all right?” She leaned over the bicycle and the bush and pulled Miss Olive out of the greenery. She completed a quick inventory of Miss Olive’s condition, plucking a twig out of her hair before Miss Olive brushed her aside.
“I’m fine. Really, I am. Girls, the wheel is marvelous. Who is next? I’ve shown you how not to stop, so now you can do what you are supposed to.”
Several of the girls took a step back, looking for someone else to try first.
Briar and Ethel looked at each other. “You go, Briar. I’ll catch you when you circle around.”
Eager to try, despite Miss Olive’s mishap, Briar stepped forward.
“Good for you,” said Miss Spence. She held the bicycle aloft.
“Be careful,” Mim warned, “or you’ll fall and break your wrist and then where will you be? Unable to work.” She adjusted her hat and smiled at a gentleman walking by, who eyed the group warily.
Briar copied how Miss Olive gathered her long skirts and arranged one foot on a pedal. She took a big breath and pushed off, leaning heavily toward Miss Spence. “Whoa.”
“Straighten up, that’s it,” Miss Spence said encouragingly, holding Briar upright. “Steady now.”