The chronology displayed in the excerpt is option 3) "Pope follows to invest in the cycling industry steps".
In this excerpt, the author is narrating Pope's interest in bikes as a way to make make business. Evidence in the text supports this view: "A Civil War veteran and entrepreneur, he wondered about the machine's possibilities as both a business venture and a means of transportation". In this part, the author describes Pope as entrepreneur and how he thought about the possibility of investing in bikes. Then, at the end of the excerpt, the author tells how Pope was convinced by the bikes' possible business success "the businessman suddenly saw the potential of traveling on two wheels."
