The bicycle is the most benign machine ever invented – perhaps the only machine that brings freedom and not servitude.
The book tells the story of the first bicycles – how they emerged by trial and error from tiny workshops in a series of engineering steps.
From the first, cyclists raced each other on road and track, and a new sport was born among men – and later women – who achieved extraordinary feats of speed and endurance.
One outstanding effects of cycling was to bring freedom and independence to women, a process which has never stopped.
This book is a richly illustrated account of the first fifty years of cycling history in Britain and elsewhere, covering the years 1870 – 1920.
Cycling: the First Fifty Years, 1870-1920
The bicycle began as a hobby-horse for adults and became, through a series of inspired engineering experiments, probably the most benign machine ever invented, a freedom machine which changed the lives of millions. It enabled ordinary people to explore their environment, urban or rural, or even to travel across continents if they were determined enough. It created a new sport which produced great champions and outstanding feats of athleticism . It was healthy, low-tech and environmentally friendly, and it drew people together in cycling clubs. The first fifty years of cycling history are fascinating and delightful, as people learned to enjoy their new-found freedoms. This book is a serious portrait of those years from many different angles; but it is also a frankly nostalgic journey back to the time of the chaps with mutton-chop whiskers, Norfolk jackets and penny-farthings, and of women learning to be daring enough to cycle in muslins and crinolines, or in the more rational bloomers.
