Each week, we'll feature an especially interesting event in the neighborhood based on the event submissions we get, and what we hear about while we're out on the beat. If you want to be considered for next week, please submit your event here.
If you think riding bicycles today can be difficult, you might be interested in a talk from 6–8pm tonight at the Mechanics' Institute (57 Post St.) about a vintage "Grand Velocipede Tournament" held in April 1869.
In that era, the precursors to bicycles were called "velocipedes" and were completely made from cast iron, said Taryn Edwards, librarian and strategic partnerships manager of the Mechanics' Institute. At about 75 pounds, "they were uncomfortable to ride, and streets weren’t developed to accommodate bicycles yet," she added.
But like their successors that had rubber tires and lighter frames, they were fun. People rented them and rode them inside rinks and on flat, more developed roads, like the ones around Union Square here in the city.
Learn more about velocipedes and those who rode them at "The Emperor's Ride: Notes on a Famous Photograph," hosted by Edwards and John Lumea, founder and president of the Emperor's Bridge Campaign, which is devoted to raising awareness of Emperor Norton. Edwards will speak about the Mechanics' Institute's participation in the event, while Lumea will muse about the photograph of Emperor Norton on a velocipede.
The Mechanics' Institute had a Mechanics' Pavilion on Stockton and Geary streets on part of what is today Union Square, Edwards said, and it was used for fairs and other events like balls, dog shows, flower shows and "beautiful baby" shows. "One day, we decided to rent it for a velocipede training school," Edwards said, and for about six months, it was the hot thing. People rode them on Stockton, Geary, Post and Powell; "they’d go around and around,” she said. Montgomery Street was also popular, and people also rode by the Cliff House on the Great Highway.
Hundreds of people went to the Velocipede Training School learn to ride or to watch. The famed Emperor Norton—who was a member of the Mechanics' Institute—participated in the Grand Velocipede Tournament, and he was captured by photographer Eadweard Muybridge at the time, who was also a member. The velocipede craze was not unique to San Francisco, Edwards noted. "Most major cities had at least one velocipede rink," she said. "Boston reportedly had 14."
This talk is actually the first of a "couplet" of events. The next, The Emperor's Ride, includes a bike ride starting at 11am May 1st from the northeast corner of Montgomery and Clay streets, followed by a picnic at 1pm at Marina Green.
And now for a few other events happening in the next several days:
