Cyclists have long attracted attention - sometimes praised as pioneers of healthy, sustainable travel, at other times viewed as a nuisance on the roads.

In the 1890s, long before the motor car dominated the roads, some were already voicing concerns about bicycles.

According to the Farnham Weekly Herald of August 29, 1896, the growing popularity of two-wheeled transport was a major talking point.

“It is quite simply astonishing, the way the bicycle is displacing the horse,” the correspondent declared.

He went on to highlight that the then-county of Middlesex had “passed a bylaw enacting that one hour from sunset and one hour before sunrise, all vehicles must carry lighted lamps.”

The writer was even more surprised by a development across the Channel.

“A market exclusively for the sale of cycles has been opened in Paris,” he reported.

“The idea is a good one, but I doubt if the income, even in cycling Paris, will be large enough to make the market a financial success.”

Female equality had yet to reach the world of cycling, however.

“Several female bicycle track races have taken place in Canada, notwithstanding every effort on the part of the board to suppress such exhibitions,” the article noted.

“Promotors are warned that the board will blacklist any track upon which hereafter female bicycle riders are allowed to race before the public. Thus Canada has followed the Mother Country’s lead.”

Tensions between cyclists and other transport users were also on the rise.

At Willesden Junction, a porter had picked up a cycle frame, being returned from repairs, and “pitched it into the corner as though it were scrap metal.”

Meanwhile, at Victoria Station, a guard had deliberately broken off a bike’s pedal.

“How doth the festive railway man improve his pensive hours by doing everything he can to smash those bikes of ours,” lamented the writer.