Most of us got
one when we were kids. Five years
old seems about the age when kids
are ready for their first ride.
Getting your first bike is really
a time of excitement. Most kids
probably had training wheels on
their first bike, these were used
to keep the bike from falling
down, while the kid was still
on it. That was the trick with
the bicycle, before you could
learn to ride, you had to learn
how to not fall off the seat.
Once you learned how to ride,
having your bike became a very
liberating experience. It was
probably your first taste of independence;
you could just get on your bike
and ride without needing help.
The bicycle has to be listed as
one of the greatest inventions
ever. No single person has been
given credit for that, but some
of the earliest forms of bikes
date back to the early 1800s.
Karl Drais invented something
called the dandy-horse in 1817.
His creation didn't have any pedals,
so you had to push it with your
feet. In the 1860s, Frenchmen
Michaux and Lallement created
the pedal. This new version of
the bike with pedals was called
the boneshaker. James Starley
improved on the boneshaker and
in 1885, he released his version
of the bicycle, it was called
the rover. The rover was considered
the first modern type bicycle.
Bicycles have gradually evolved
into a great form of transportation.
They were very popular, but times
change. The car became more affordable
and people were choosing a car
ride over a bike ride. Bicycle
sales started to go down. By the
1940s, the bicycle, which started
out as an adult form of transportation,
was now being viewed as a toy
for kids. The bicycle fell on
hard times until the 1960s when
people had a renewed interest
in their health and in the environment.
Bicycle sales in the US really
went up after the oil crisis in
1973. In the years to follow,
we began to see more innovations
with the bike; these included
higher performing bikes and gears
that went from 3 up to 18 speeds.
The bicycle has not only survived,
but it has done as great job of
adapting through time. It started
out as being primarily for adult
use and then it was reduced to
a toy for kids and today the bike
has the best of all worlds. Kids
still love getting their first
bikes. Bicycles are still used
as a mode of transportation, especially
on college campuses. And adults
realize that riding a bike is
a good way to stay in shape. Plus,
sport has created a whole new
use for bicycles. There is something
called extreme sports where some
of the competition requires using
a bicycle to do airborne tricks.
This sport alone, has created
massive exposure and added sales
for the bicycle industry. The
bicycle has created its own niche
in the world and has been able
to fit into so many different
cultures. Unlike a lot of past
inventions, the bicycle is just
as vital today as it was when
it was created. Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Bicycles
