It’s a quite a usual thing, that around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, people who were interested in modern, revolutionaly thoughts in one segment of their life, usually had modern habits and attitudes also in other parts of the everyday life.
In the last years of the 19th century bicycle was one of those new things turned upside down the everyday life in a revolutionary way.
Indeed, if we take the classic definition of what revolution is, a quick and radical change in the life of the majority of the society, the growing popularity of bicycle was the real revolution of the era. In some or other ways, it had a huge impact on the life of every social classes.
Moreover, in the last two decades of the 19th century, from time to time, there were periods called “bicycle craze” (nevertheless, the phrase usually refers to the big one in early 1890s), when everything was about this new revolutionary vehicle. People were so obsessed with their bicycle, that even bicycle weddings were held. (After ally the second part of the 19th century, the Victorian Era wasn’t that firm and rigid as we sometimes used to think about it.)
Marie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1857-1906), possibly the most famous scientist couple in history ever, were married on 26 July 1895. It was a wedding without religious service and Marie wore a simple blue dress she used to wear later as a laboratory outfit for many years.
The newlyweds shared a few hobbies, for exaple they liked to make long bicycle trips.
No wonder, that they enjoyed this outdoor activity during their honymoon.