[Photo Credit: Dalrymple, Louis, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-28908]
With Avery as her companion, Julia could explore Europe during their summer breaks. They considered different modes of transport, as she explained to their cousins in the spring of 1899: “Avery and I are planning already for the vacation, and weighing the question of bicycles or no – I don’t know whether I could, on so short notice, ride long enough at a time to cover any great space of country – whether there is strength enough. . . .” Though they ended up traveling by train, Julia was contemplating a bicycle tour during the height of the “bicycle craze.” The new “safety bicycles” were widely in use in Europe and America in the late 1890s, and their smaller, almost equally-sized wheels and chain drives allowed women to pedal them with ease.
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