Marvelous Machines

Last Wednesday's Ride:

28.8 miles

Bryce - out & back

1 hour 52 minutes

Cold weather

Today's Ride:

21.1 miles

Solomonville - out & back

1 hour 15 minutes

63 degrees, no wind

Bicycles are extraordinary machines. What is considered the forerunner of the modern bicycle, the "laufmaschine," or "running machine" was invented by the German, Baron Karl von Drais, in 1817. Here's a picture:

It was called the "running machine" because the rider simply straddled the machine and used his feet to push the bike along either slowly (walking) if he had a load of wood or bread strapped on the back or faster (running) if he, or maybe even she, was out on a pleasure cruise. The Baron learned quickly what all cyclists know: uphill, hard; downhill, easy.

From the looks of things, the Baron's feet served as both the energy source to go forward and the way to bring it all to a stop.

The ol' Baron took his running machine to Paris in 1818 and it became a hit with the French. A few years later, a couple of Frenchmen added cranks to the front wheel and, voilá, pedaling was invented.

The rest, as they say, is history.

A couple of interesting bicycle facts:

A bicycle is the most efficient form of transportation ever invented in terms of energy expended to travel a given distance. Over a relatively flat terrain, one can travel on a bicycle at about 15 miles per hour while expending the same energy it takes to walk about two miles per hour.

And talk about going green... the carbon dioxide generated in the production and transportation of the food required by the bicyclist, per mile traveled, is less than 1/10th that generated by energy efficient cars.

The bicycle also played a significant role in the emancipation of women giving women unprecedented mobility at a time when their traveling options were severely limited. Susan B. Anthony described a woman on a bicycle as "...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."

It makes me proud to ride my bike.

Ride on.