Rapid Transit to Salvation: American Protestants and the Bicycle in the Era of the Cycling Craze

Abstract

In the late nineteenth century, cycling posed numerous problems for Protestant churches and other religious organizations that sought to reform the behavior of athletes and the tone of sporting events. A wide range of improper behavior, including desecration of the Sabbath, was attributed to the “cycling craze” of the 1890s, the danger of which was heightened by the privacy and anonymity that the bicycle offered as well as it popularity among women. While censuring it on the one hand, moral crusaders also adopted the bicycle for their own evangelistic purposes, recognizing its potential as a means of transport as well as its appeal to young audiences. Some argued that it would restore the health of church congregations. Others saw it as an agent of temperance reform. Missionary organizations, including the Salvation Army, used bicycles to distribute religious and social reform literature in rural areas. A symbol of the Good Roads movement, the bicycle also promised to create a mutually beneficial moral bond between town and country.