Biking

LWB = Low Wheel Base

Scooter tandem (+ child)

Introduction

Bicycling is a versatile outdoor activity. A mountain bike, the most common form of bicycle, can handle most kinds of terrain from ordinary pavement, gravel, to technically different terrain – single-track trails with roots and rocks to encounter. A bicycle is an excellent choice for commuting, and as a result you can do your part to save the environment, keep yourself fit, and save a lot of money (particularly if you avoid car ownership). With preparation, a bicycle can handle most of what nature deals out – snow, rain and nighttime. A bicycle can be used to move people or things from place to place.

A bicycle is fast – in a city with clogged city streets – a bicycle could beat those cars. Compared to walking, bicycling is at least five times faster. A bicycle is about half as fast as ordinary city travel with cars. Yet if you include the fact you are getting valuable exercise, the extra time is well worth it. Unfortunately, if you live in the suburbs far from where you work a bicycle commute may then be too time consuming, effectively isolatiing you. This isolation caused from living at least a half-hour away by car on a highway from your work is an unfortunate consequence of sprawl.. A solution to sprawl is to have cities designed so that you are close to the services you need. Hopefully, the mistakes of sprawl are not repeated when we colonize our solar system.

Besides the venerable mountain bike with its numerous specializations, many other kinds of bikes exist. Road bikes, built for speed and are common in racing, are bicycles with a long legacy. Recumbents, bicycles of two or three wheels, are bicycles where you are reclined and your feet are pedalling outwards. Recumbents because they lie closer to the ground, can reduce aerodynamic resistance, and are thus capable of astonishing speeds. They are where the future of cycling lies in my opinion. Stranger bicycles exists, including ones that ride on water, ride on railroads or fly in the air.

Bicycling History

1490 Leonardo da Vinci sketches a percursor to the modern bicycle, complete with pedals and a drive train
1790 Celerifere invented. A running machine consisting of two in-line wheels connected by a beam straddled by the rider and propelled by pushing the feet against the ground.
1817 Hobby Horse invented. Karl von Drais added steering to the front wheel. Became a brief craze among upper classes.
1839 Kirkpatrick Macmillian built the first bicycle with pedals.
1861 Pierre Michaux fitted cranks and pedals to the front wheel of a hobby horse and was known as a velocipede.
1870s Velocipede evolved into a high bicycle. The larger the front wheel, the faster it could go. Very unsafe.
1885 Safety bicycle invented. Gears added. Bicycle wheels equal size. Safety bicycle was a rougher ride than a high bicycle.
1888 Pnuematic tires added for a softer ride by John Boyd Dunlop.
1890s-1920s Costs came down and the bicycle became popular
Between world wars: Bicycle flourished in Europe but declined in America
WWII to 1960s: Bicycle declined in popularity in Europe as well due to cars.
1970s: Bicycle boom for leisure in America
1980s: Mountain bikes invented can became throughout the 90s and beyond the most popular form of bicycle.

Terminology to add: hucking (jumping off ramps on bicycles), urban assault

Bicycle activism:
http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/ Bicycle activism
http://www.odot.state.or.us/techserv/bikewalk/plantext/toc-text.htm Planning bike paths and other stuff
http://members.aol.com/biketune/bikeopedia.htm The Bikeopedia, an encylopedia of bicycle terms

I am trying to classify bicycle types. Here are loose categorizations:

Road Bike ... Mountain Bike (includes Hybrid, Comfort and All-Terrain)
Specializations of Mountain Bikes: Stunt, Downhill, Technical
BMX: Flatland (aka trail), freestyle, BMX crusier
Kids bikes
Tandems
More Types: City/Commuter, crusier, cyclocross, electric, freestyle, industrial (for moving loads), lowrider, touring, track, trails, racing, folding
Recumbents, Velomobiles, Rowing Bicycles
Unusual Environment Bicycles: human-powered boats (paddleboats for upright seated pedel boats), bicycle-powered parachutes or ornithcopters, rail bikes (that use abandoned railroad tracks), underwater bicycles, ski bike (a sit down skiing device aka ski scooter)
Environments to ride on: Roads, Gravel, Natural Surface, Ice, Snow, Single-track vs multi-track, terrain parks, touring (highways), underwater

Factors:
Speed -- by reducing weight, improving aerodynamics, reducing rolling resistance, motors
Rider position -- upright or reclined
Safety -- lights, traction, number of wheels, helmets
Size -- bicycle must fit rider
Thief protection -- parts are difficult to remove, locks
Convenience -- storage space, bicycle bottle holder or hydration backpacks
Comfort --
Number of riders -- one, two or more (tandems). Riders can be side-by-side or in a line

http://www.bikeschool.com/