The Birth of the Cycle

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7764, 16 March 1905, Page 2

The Birth of the Cycle

' .il .•■' lull of Interest, fn 1 of •« ri*n;j.» events is bicycle hist« .v, ot *l ( oventry can U.-11 a tale ; o; man-, wring deeds ami breathless ts m pes ri the wheel. / .iX'K alter any great wai, ai'.v cr. is pin ft nalion's history, \. i> tunics with peace a msh of in <*niion, a leap forward in imlusti, a new life hi .science, and a K'V.it expansion of all that is good i a nation. In 1 (>!>."> we hail the f.« t glimmer ,of the '.'wheel, when J\»elyn tolls us in his "Diary*' that la- tuund "Hi. Wilkin.-*, Sir Win. lVit v \ and Mr llooi-e contriving chariot**, new rigging- ior wnips, a wheel lur one to run races in, aiui other iMxhanicnl u\\ e.ition*." ,1a i. u ! aim of 1815 there was a gieut ro- ! ival ot men's inventive [powers more busily catering ior the vqqxureuiciita of Europe after the war, | and there came over to KngUtnri . from France what may be considered !to be the Jirst attempt at a twowheeled machine—the Dandy Horse. It is curious how exactly we win ! punctuate the progress of the bicycle ,in tens of years—'7-1, 'Bl, '9l. "IM—ithcy are like stepping ytoucs standing out boldly in the river of time, jln 1871, t»an Budge's name was in every mbuth* and his famous bicycle caused an immense sensation. In the same year the Annua! Register tells ns—as a national event—that a member of the Pickwick Bicycle Club "accomplished a Journey! km the bicycle from London to Bath and back >in thirty-seven hours, having been on thef saddle two whole days and ne night, with short intervals for meals and one hour for sleep." year 1881 stvw the first attempt at a safety, the Jtudge Cycle Company bringing out their various kinds.of rear-driving safety bicycles, and this date really heralded the. large popularity of the safe form of riding, and of fran Kudgc, Jroni whom, after a lapse of over thirty years, has grown Uh<? huge manufacturing company ' known as the' Kudge-TVhitworth Cycle Company, so well known throughout the British Empire