The 21^st Century Wheelmen

Today about 1,500 men and women across the country belong to The Wheelman, although many are armchair enthusiasts, not riders. The club founded by Charles Hazlett and others in 1880 faded with the arrival of the motorcar, but was revived by antique bicycle fans in 1967. Members of the nonprofit group pay $25 to receive a superb magazine, published twice a year that is packed with bicycle lore. To gain voting privileges, a member must ride a high-wheeler for 10 miles. The all-volunteer group holds an annual gathering. A small close-knit family of members ride their antique bikes wearing heavy Victorian clothing in parades and at venues like Strawbery Banke, always spreading the gospel of early American cycling.

Stephen Hartson of Greenland, currently "captain" of the New Hampshire chapter of The Wheelman has been riding antique bikes since he was 10. His father Robert, now in his 70s, still rides a high wheeler. The family tradition began in the 1960s when Hartson's’ grandfather found a discarded "Penny Farthing" at the dump. That doesn’t happen any more, he says, when a collectible bike can be worth over $10,000. The Wheelmen ride only vintage bikes dated from 1818 to 1917. A working original can be purchased these days for $1,500 to $2,000, Hartson says, and novice riders often start out on less costly reproduction cycles.

"It isn’t as hard as it looks," says Hartson, who admits that training is best done at the beach where face-plants on a big-wheeler are less painful. "Within an hour I can have almost anybody up and riding."

But asked if he would like to ride an Urch marine bicycle out to the Isles of Shoals, Hartson just rolls his eyes. He loves riding 100-year old bikes wearing antique clothes -- but he isn’t crazy.