sant afternoon run through the country for
twenty-five miles in a scorching position is just as absurd as it would
be if a man riding a horse in the Park for pleasure should assume the
jockey seat. There is neither rhyme nor reason in it. Finally, a
half-way position--one between the upright and the scorching
positions--is worst of all.

[Illustration: CORRECT LENGTH OF REACH.]

[Illustration: TOO LONG A REACH.]

Another important point in road-riding is the height of the saddle above
the lowest point in the arc described by the pedals. Experience has
shown that when the pedal is at its lowest and you are sitting squarely
on the saddle, your heel should be on a level with the toe of the boot
and your knee a trifle bent. Or, to put it differently, it should be
possible for you to place the ball of your foot on the pedal and follow
it around in its circle without absolutely straightening your leg to its
utmost. Or, still again, as other people describe it, you should be able
to put the toe of your shoe _under_ the pedal and keep it there all the
way round, the leg being straightened at the longest stretch. The
illustration representing this shows the correct length of stride, and
by referring to another cut you will see what results when the rider has
raised his seat so high that he is obliged to let his toes point down
with a straight leg in order to follow the pedal around. This
illustration, representing too long a stride, shows by the wrinkles in
the rider's trousers and shirt that he is compelled to lower not only
his hips but his whole side and shoulder, and, of course, the same is
repeated alternately on the other side. As these photographs were taken
by an instantaneous slide, and the riders were in motion, they are all
actual positions during riding, and as such illustrate exactly what
happens in each case.

In this case of too long a stride there is real danger to health in the
long-run. The wheelman makes many thousand revolutions in a week, and
rides throughout a good part of the year, and any one can see in a
moment that this constant working of all the vital parts of the body
must be anything but healthy. Furthermore, aside from the question of
health altogether, a wheelman becomes quickly tired out with this
continual shifting. He may not know what is the cause of his weariness,
but it is sure to be partly due to it if he rides in that way. There is
no reason why a rider should want to have a long strid