With the help of Phyllis Franklin from the Museum of History and Industry, the P.I.’s Big Blog has a great little history of biking in Seattle (click the link to see an awesome photo):
You think bicycling is challenging in Seattle now? When “safety bicycles” arrived in Seattle in the early 1890’s, riders had to contend with rutted dirt roads, steep ungraded hills, bicycle thieves, wild animals, and worse – roving cattle!
The first bicycle arrived in Seattle in 1879, but it wasn’t until “safety” bicycles were introduced in the early 1890’s that bicycling became a phenomenon. Imagine, these bikes had hard rubber tires, no gears, and no brakes. They were hardly comfortable, and “safety” was a relative term.
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