Cycling record of a sixteen-year-old girl

In September 1893, a young sixteen-year-old girl rode on bicycle from  Brighton to London and back. The road between the two cities was 190 km (120 mi) long and it took her 8 hours and 30 minutes to return to Brighton from the capitol, wich was considered a new record.

Tessie Reynolds was the daughter of Robert James Reynolds, a gymnastic instructor and cycling agent, who promoted active sport among his children. Also her mother was involved in the new craziness of cycling, she run a boarding house catering for cyclists especially. Thus, basically, Tessie grew up in a family, where riding a bicycle and challenging herself physically was normal even for a young woman.

On that very day in September 1893, she rode to London and back to Brighton within a day. She rode a man’s bike, and was wearing a so-called “knickerbockers” throusers instead of a dress. The invention of the bicycle was an important catalyst in several social changes, one of them was the rationalisation of female dresses. Groups like the “Rational Dress Movement” promoted more practical outfits, even when they often found themselves in the centre of scandals and outrages.

Also Tessie Reymonds was critized because of the “inappropriate” outfit. Moreover, after her record setting, she was examined by a medical professional and it was confirmed, that the physical activity didn’t have any damage in the body of the young woman.¹  After all, this was the era, when (middle-class) men “decided”, that (middle-class) women are weak and fragile creatures, who should avoid most kind of physical activities.

Although Tessie Reynolds got critized in the newspapers, this “bad” publicity was still an important step in the process of women’s rights.