Posted on 03/19/2017 11:43:46 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
In 1817, German Baron Karl von Drais invented a prototype of the modern bicycle called a "velocipede" and nicknamed in English "hobbyhorse."
Throughout the following years, mechanics modified and redesigned it, and by the 1870s a high-wheeled bicycle enabling greater speed had replaced the velocipede and could occasionally be seen on American streets as a novelty.
During the latter part of that decade, Egbert H. Osburn demonstrated the first "wheel" in Quincy to dazzled spectators gathered in Pinkham Hall on Maine between Third and Fourth.
As more bicycles began taking to the road, an 1881 edition of The Quincy Daily Whig reprinted an article by Dr. J.T. Goddard about cycling's benefits. "Riding the bicycle affords pleasurable excitement," Goddard wrote," which is what most men drink liquor for, and it leaves no sting behind. ... It stimulates them to save money which they might otherwise spend foolishly."
(Excerpt) Read more at whig.com ...
I blame Lance Armstrong.
When I was a girl in Missouri (summers at my grandparents’ farm) one of the newspapers they received was the Quincy Herald-Whig.
Evel Knievel was big then, too, so of course we jumped our bikes (sometimes even successfully...lol) over anything and everything. However, when we upgraded to 10-speeds we quickly found out that they weren't exactly made for jumping....not like the Stingrays we used before that. Got hammered into the ground a few times when the front wheel stopped in a rut and the rest of the bike flipped over it. Good times...lol.
And yes, we put cards in the spokes.
I credit Lance Armstrong.
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