"In the 1890's interest in bicycling reached boom proportions. Production... rose from... 200,000 in 1889 to 1,000,000 in 1899... [T]he importance of the bicycle to the life of the 1890's was much greater than... today. Then, only a few score automobiles had been built, horses and carriages were expensive to maintain... and urban public transportation was... slow and frequently inadequate. The bicycle met the need for inexpensive individual transportation... for going to and from business... deliveries... recreational riding, and... sport."