Tessie Reynolds

Teresa "Tessie" Reynolds (20 August 1877 – 13 July 1954) was an English cyclist who in 1893 set a record for cycling from Brighton to London and back in 8 hours 30 minutes. She was aged sixteen at the time and dressed in "rational" clothing: pantaloons, a shirt, and coat. The outfit, which was likely made for her by her sister, led to significant publicity and her ride came to be regarded as a milestone for women's rights and sports. The record was broken in 1894 and Reynolds went on to be a London traffic safety officer.

Early life

"Every wheelman who has managed to retain a belief in the innate modesty and sense of becomingness in the opposite sex, will hear with real pain, not unmixed with disgust, of what we will call a lamentable incident that took place on the Brighton road early last Sunday" — Cycling magazine's description of the feat the eldest of 11 children. Her father, Robert James Reynolds, was a gymnastic instructor and cycle agent,

Record breaking bike ride In September 1893, when Reynolds was sixteen years old, she rode a man's bike from Brighton to London The publicity, despite being negative, helped improve women's rights Reynold's ride led her to be noted as a key 19th-century cyclist. She was denied the possibility of starting a Brighton branch of the national Female Cycling Association when she was 18, supposedly due to her age and "lack of experience", but more likely due to association with her rational outfit. and moved to Barnet, Hertfordshire (now North London), having three children who all died in childhood.