“There is a young woman in Minneapolis, Minn. who is a ’scorcher.’ This doesn’t really mean that there is anything against her character, but that she is simply a fast bicycle rider, always looking for a race with anything on wheels that comes along.”

The story of Helen Baldwin was published in The National Police Gazette on September 7, 1895. Full of rich description (including full run down of her cycling attire), the article outlines the sensation caused by the beautiful female rider and the burst of speed that allowed her to defeat a hearse, pulled by two horses, in an impromptu race. Baldwin shares that she is a professional racer, and that superstition held that if a hearse ever passed her on the road she might not live to see the next day.

A lovely example of the bicycle in 19th-century press, and a sterling example of Victorian sensation. This little story was apparently too big to be avoided. Simple moments like this are among the best in history.