The History of Cycling

The history of cycling has had an immense influence on the technologies, industries and sports events of today. The story of the bicycle starts in 1817 when Baron von Drais of Baden invented a 'running machine' to help him move more quickly around his forests.

The 'Draisienne', as it was known, briefly became a fashionable toy for the upper classes in Paris and London, and was much copied by other manufacturers. In subsequent years, many craftsmen designed 2, 3 or 4-wheeled vehicles powered by human energy - otherwise known as 'velocipedes'.

A Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, earned himself a five shilling fine around 1840 for knocking over a child on a ride from Dumfries to Glasgow. But the bicycle didn't experience its first proper breakthrough until the French mechanic Pierre Michaud attached cranks to the front wheel of a Draisienne in the 1860s.

This led to a craze for cycling on both sides of the Atlantic. With the outbreak of war between France and Russia, James Starley of the Coventry Machinists Company took up the challenge of refining the French 'boneshakers'. He increased the front wheel diameter to allow greater speed, which led to the familiar 'penny-farthing' design.

At the same time, Starley and others improved the technology of gears, brakes and wheels, both on bicycles and less dangerous alternatives such as tricycles. In 1885, John Kemp Starley (James' nephew) invented the 'Rover' bicycle, which overcame the dangers of a large front wheel by attaching gears and cranks to the rear wheel instead.

In 1888, John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic tyres - competitions then proved that a 'safety' bicycle with pneumatic tyres could easily match the daredevil speeds of the penny-farthing. This established the standard design that has survived to the present day.
Since then, bicycles have had a huge impact on society. JK Starley went on to form the Rover car company, and many other transport pioneers - such as Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers - also began as cycle mechanics.

Cycling opened up new horizons for people in the nineteenth century by allowing them to travel beyond their home community - this was especially important for women, and can be seen now also in the developing world. Finally, competitive cycling provided one of the earliest forms of mass spectator sport in modern times. Although modern day cycling has been tarnished to a degree as there has been some instances of banned supplements being used by athletes, cycling is still a strong sport amongst the UK.

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