Ladies Training for Cycle Races

Edwardian ladies work their pedals, eagerly watched by workers and an attention-seeking dog.

Once upon a time, it was felt that it wasn't safe for women to cycle. Perhaps the fashion for voluminous, ankle-covering skirts, was reckoned incompatible with pedals and chains. Perhaps, too, some feared the independence that the bike might herald? By the Edwardian era, women on bicycles weren't quite such a novelty, and this ladies' time-trial seems to be a hit with onlookers and a curious dog.