Gwen Tuinman
Gwen Tuinman is a novelist, born and raised in rural southern Ontario. Fascinated by the landscape of human tenacity, she writes about people navigating the social restrictions of their era. Her storytelling is influenced by an interest in bygone days. As a mentor, she helps women writers to shed emotional armour so they can reclaim their self-expression, dream bigger and learn to guide themselves through new creative risks. Gwen lives in the Kawartha Lakes region with her husband. Her forthcoming novel will be published in the spring of 2024 by Random House Canada.
Gwen Tuinman 
May 29, 2014 at 7:34 pm
I wonder if these women, as they wended their way down winding streets, if ever they wondered if their wheels would weave wantonly and wander off to wider and wayward wonders?
May 30, 2014 at 9:53 am
Wonder-fully witty words! In all seriousness, it must have been challenging to steer these bicycles.
I’ve seen modified bicycles in Amsterdam, but always with two wheels on the back. The first lady must have taken very wide turns with two wheels on the front of the bike. The last bike is steered by an awkward looking rudder, very different from handlebars that we are accustomed to. I’m also noticing that the pedals don’t turn in a circular motion. They look more like they’d move up and down.
Perhaps you had a premonition, perchance, about a piece I’m planning to pen pretty soon pertaining to a similar ponderance — how the popularity of the bicycle empowered women of the early 1800s.
June 3, 2014 at 5:51 pm
Nothing like a little alliterative tête-à-tête! Premonitions, perchances, and perhapses are my personal predispositions. : )