1869: The Bicycle Arrives in San Diego
This is part of a series of articles documenting San Diego’s long history with the bicycle. The materials contributing to this narrative comes from San Diego’s Hostelling-International branch, formerly called the American Youth Hostel
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In 1869, residents in San Diego learned about the velocipede (bicycle) and demanded that these devices be imported into San Diego. The San Diego Union quoted one citizen asking,
San Diego is a fast place and why can’t we have a velocipede?
Sensing a new business opportunity and hearing a clear and vocal demand, a few San Diego entrepreneurs imported these velocipedes and started the first of many bicycle rental businesses.
Thus in June 1869, many San Diegan residents got to experience their first ride on a bicycle. Its wooden wheels and iron rims made for some unpleasant riding. But that wasn’t enough of a deterrent, despite many having “had a tumble” off of these new imports. Residents continued to ride them by renting them for fifty cents a day.
But there was a contrary sentiment voiced and one that doesn’t sound too different from what we hear nowadays,
Who wants to ride a two-wheeled, tumble-down, breakneck, work-your-passage rig, when he can purchase a California horse for $20?
Yet, San Diegan cyclists were undeterred and regular rides were held along Fourth Street by enthusiastic riders.
In 1883, the San Diego Union reported that bicycles were increasing in popularity. But the press continued to echo a refrain that must seem all to familiar to cyclists nowadays,
bicyclists should be cautious when riding on the streets in the vicinity of teams. The horses of the town are not used to these machines, and serious accidents are likely to result.
Despite this, the cyclists in San Diego who fell in love with riding continued to do so and extol the benefits of it by describing how much money was saved by riding a bicycle resulting in “a reduction in shoe bills.”
Soon bicycle clubs were formed all around the city and newspapers around the city publicized rides. Bike manufacturers began to place advertisements in the local newspapers. One ad stated the following:
To all who are actively engaged in the legal profession, there comes a time when outdoor exercise of some sort becomes an imperative necessity.
In 1895, three San Diegans, Bert Reed, Oscar Lane and Charles Rose rode from San Diego to Los Angeles and back in 14 hours and 5 minutes. This led to an explosion of residents riding on every street which resulted in a new city rule that was issued in 1899:
The indiscriminate riding of bicycles on public highways is prohibited
But this rule apparently didn’t faze any rider. The San Diego Union reported that the public had no comprehension of what “indiscriminate” meant. Thus, this bicycling explosion continued as evidenced by this one bike route map from 1896 depicting bicycle routes in California designed to get Californians on the saddle to explore the world around them.
Photo used with permission from HI-San Diego’s archives.