e. It does not
make any greater speed, and it actually detracts from the power of his
stroke.

Now a word as to the ankle movement. Of course the force applied through
the foot to the pedal at the moment when the latter is one-quarter way
round the circle from the top, or, in other words, half-way "down," is
the most valuable and powerful. Just as in rowing, the strength put into
the oar when it is exactly at right angles with the boat is the most
valuable. And, furthermore, the earlier or later the strength is applied
to the pedals the less and less powerful it becomes so far as sending
the wheel ahead goes. If you press down hard when the pedal is nearly or
fully down to its lowest point you are scarcely sending the wheel ahead
at all, and all your exertion goes for nothing therefore. Practically
speaking, in order to get the best of your strength in at the
quarter-circle point you should begin to push, and push vigorously, the
moment the pedal has passed by its highest point. The push should be
quick and short, and should stop as soon as possible after the
quarter-circle point has been passed. There is an instant of rest there,
and then the heel should be raised a little and a sharp upward and
backward pull made on this same pedal at the same instant that the
downward push is being made on the other pedal with the other foot. As a
result, the rider is pulling up with one foot while he is pushing down
with the other, and there are therefore two distinct motions with each
leg during a single revolution of the pedal. Many riders only push
downward, and allow the pedals to rise of their own accord, so to speak,
but they waste a part of the force of each revolution by this--not a
half, but fully one-third of what they might easily put into it.

As a result of this the heel takes a different position relative to the
toe at different parts of one revolution. At the top and bottom the two
are on the same level, but the heel goes down quicker than the toe and
comes up quicker. This is very tiresome for the beginner, and he soon
finds the calves of his legs aching sharply, but in time he will become
accustomed to it, and the added amount of speed which he gets out of his
machine is surprising even to himself.

There is not space enough left to say anything of girls' riding, but
some time in the future this should have a short article by itself.

MAY BE SO.

BY RUTH McENERY STUART.

September butterflies flew t