A Brief History
of

Bike Riding

Well first off, cycling is not like baseball; you can not contribute it to any particular person such as Abner Doubleday, or any other derivative parent game like rounders. Cycling just seemed to happen all at once in the late 1700's. Napolean used a form of cycle to transport his troops in retreat from high ground. The Chinese have had chain driven bicycles longer than anyone remembers.

The United States of America, being the new kid on the block of Western civilization, did not get into cycling with the masses until the early 1800's. But Ben Franklin sent a letter to the first Congress that stated in part "the French government recommends that we develop a program that provides for the rapid deployment of troops using what they call a peddle device combining wheels and a chain mechanism to transport individual troopers to and from areas of conflict". It is safe to say, cycling was here prior to the end of the troubles with Britian.

Early American bicycles were of the "Big Wheel" variety. One large wheel that was a forceful pedal with no chains, and frankly to ride one of these a mile or more was an amazing feat. By the mid 1800's (the Victorian era) when the world began to enjoy a civilized code of behavior, the chain was introduced to bicycling and a company known as Columbia developed the two similar wheel bicycle. However, it was still a time when alloys had not been invented and cycling was still limited to no more than 2 miles at a time. Early cycle shops were constantly trying to develop a bicycle that could break the five mile barrier.

The early American bicycles, whether produced by hand or assembled in the Columbia plants, were designed to be portaged to parks with half mile trails. They were an instant success and became the rage of Sunday afternoons. At this time, the typical American had no concept of what was going on in Europe with the development of the bicycle, and did not even know or care that France had introduced a 4 kilometer race that was called the "Tour de Paris".

Bicycling was a social event, used to pick up women by men and advertise by women. It was after all the Victorian era.

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