For the Love and Fun of Bicycling

The Running machine, designed and built in 1818, was

a wooden two-wheeled contraption propelled by
straddling the device and walking. amed a!ter its
inventor "arl #rais, it$s sometimes re!erred to as the
velocipede, draisine, draisienne, or by its nickname the
dandy horse. %t is the !orerunner o! today$s bicycle.

&rom that invention, we have evolved !rom a world where
only the wealthy could a!!ord such a contraption to a world where bicycles are commonplace.
'icycle parking racks can be !ound at universities, libraries, play grounds, and shopping pla(as.
'icycles are becoming the !astest-growing method o! commuting to work, and bicycle-!riendly
communities are on the rise.
Today, there are many types o! bicycles. &unction, sport, !rame type, number o! gears, number o!
riders, and rider position categori(e them.
#uring ational 'ike )onth, in )ay o! every year since 1*+,, we celebrate bicycling$s many
bene!its. %t$s a great time o! the year to consider taking up the sport.
-s kids our bicycles provided us with the !reedom to ride everywhere and do most anything
without being dependent on a parent to get us there. )y brother and % and a couple o! !riends
would o!ten ride to a town about 1. miles away to go to a movie and have a hot dog and ice
cream at the drug store ne/t to the theater. 0e rode to carnivals, amusement parks, our !avorite
swimming hole, to go !ishing, or 1ust to have !un riding all over town. 2ater, when we were
older, we rode to meet up with girls. 0ithout a bicycle, childhood would not have been the same.
-s an adult, % have always rode a crossover bicycle 3usually classi!ied as a hybrid4, because %
primarily ride o!!-road and venture into !ields, meadows, winding trails, pathways along streams,
and onto woodland and wetland dirt roads. 5ther than a helmet, % don$t wear spande/ or biking
gloves, use or don any o! the other doodads adorned by some bicyclist.
ow retired, weather permitting, % will grab my bike bag with camera sa!ely tucked inside, strap
it to my bike, mount, and head out !or the !un o! another adventure.
-s when % was a kid, % ride !or no other purpose than the love and !un o! riding my bicycle.
6ycling can o!!er some important bene!its as well7 it improves cardio-vascular health, it reduces
stress, it$s the best way to get to know your community, and it$s the easiest way to e/ercise and
burn signi!icant calories.
% have been riding a bicycle !or over 8. years, so, you can take it !rom me, bicycling is also an
activity you can en1oy throughout li!e.
-rticles by 9oratio :reen at
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