New Caledonia
Gordon Hobbis November 22, 2007

Recently, during a ceremony to mark the start of BC’s 150th anniversary, I learned that on November 19th in the year 1858 James Douglas became the first Governor of the new colony called British Columbia, formerly New Caledonia. Previously on that same day I learned how to make an impromptu skirt guard on a bicycle that is ill-equipped to handle the flowing fabric of pre 1900 Victorian dress. How did these two occurrences come together in one day? Well, during a parade of course. You see, there is a Douglas Day parade held at Fort Langley to mark the occasion of James Douglas’ appointment as Governor. As we were celebrating this historic moment of our territory joining Britain as a colony, I had a British lady helping me separate my wife’s dress from the chain of her bicycle. Lucky for my marriage it was a short parade as my fine lady was prepared to walk her bicycle the distance rather then risk having it get caught again. But the English came to the rescue as they are very crafty at simple and practical solutions to problems. In the case of British Columbia, it was better that we were a colony and not at risk of being annexed by the United States. In the case of the skirt in the chain, a simple skirt guard can be fashioned from some canvas stretched across the rear fender and fastened with elastics to the rear wheel axle. Unfortunately, we hadn’t brought any elastics with us and the local canvas store was shut for the day so I resorted to a plastic bag and some duct tape. It worked great. Red Green should add that one to the many uses of duct tape.

One lady cyclist that didn’t need duct tape or skirt guards to get her name in the history books is Edna Woodcox. You’re excused if that name doesn’t ring a bell and you can’t find it in your history books. Edna might only be mentioned in my collection of Cap’s Bicycle History, because Edna rode a unicycle from New Westminster, the first capital of the colony, to Edmonton which as we all know is the capital of Alberta (46 years after New Westminster was made the capital of BC by the way). Edna’s one wheeled cycling heroics probably had nothing to do with capitals, James Douglas or skirt guards (she wore pants). Edna wanted to see her first nephew, is what The British Columbian newspaper reported on Nov 10th, 1961, the day she arrived in Edmonton. Edna used her free hands to carry a small suitcase and when it rained she held an umbrella over her head. She did accept rides along the way and reports say that the trip to Edmonton involved “eighteen startled motorists” but only three to make it home.

“They’d never send a unicycle before in Edmonton” is what the 22 year old Edna reported about her trip. She confounded the Edmonton police who searched through city ordinances and threatened her with a heavy fine to discourage her from riding along the sidewalks. The police eventually gave way to Edna and attained special permission from the mayor to allow her to ride city streets on her unicycle. Edna started her journey from Cap’s Bicycle Shop in Sapperton, New Westminster on Oct 28, 1961. The newspaper reports that my dad, upon learning of Edna’s planned adventure, refunded her the purchase price of her unicycle so she could afford to by warm clothes. Edna was quoted as saying that learning to ride the unicycle is hard work. “It’s good exercise, especially during the early sessions when, says the unicyclist, most of the exercise comes from bending down to pick up the cycle when it topples.”

Good going Edna, I wish I had met you. Your independent spirit is why ladies can ride bikes today without the worry of needing skirt guards. There was a time that bicycling was strictly a man’s pleasure and women couldn’t participate without putting their reputation at risk by exposing their ankles or worse, wearing pants. The 150th anniversary of British Columbia reminds us of how different things used to be and how they have changed, some for the better and some for the worse. May November the 10th be Edna Woodcock day with a large parade of unicyclists so we can all keep those pedals turning.