Monday 22 July 2013

Our World Tuesday., ABC Wednesday, B for Bicycle

This bicycle is meant as a joke. It says: "I am back in  a minute"....


  I got my first bike when I was seven and lived in Indonesia. For me it has been my main means of transport. Later when I lived in the Netherlands I used my bike to go to school and for my holidays. Once my sister and I went to England by bike.We cycled from youth hostel to youth hostel along the south coast of England, from Dover to Longwell Green, which lies between Bath and Bristol. It took us a week. We worked in a workcamp for a month and met many campers from all over the world.



Wikipedia says: "A bicycle, often called a bike (and sometimes referred to as a "pushbike", "pedal bike", "pedal cycle", or "cycle"), is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe and now number more than a billion worldwide, twice as many as automobiles. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been adapted for use as children's toys, general fitness, military and police applications, courier services, and bicycle racing."



The first bikes!



A very important topic has been the "Tour de France" these past few weeks. Daily we see and hear news of our cyclists, how they are doing and whether or not they use drugs . The weather is perfect and fortunately there have been no accidents in the mountains on those steep roads. I am not interested in this race, but in spite of that I have to listen to the news, read the papers and see this event on TV.

I can't miss it. This year's winner is Chris Froome.(born 20 May 1985) is a Kenyan-born British professional road racing cyclist






















The present bikes are built in various shapes and sizes.


The tricycle for my grandson. ( 1-10-2002)























A bike for three


Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar.







With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with B. Please join us!


A tandem for a parent and child
A carrier-tricycle for two children.


















Our King with two of his children in the carrier-tricycle

Kangaroo carrier-tricycles

tandems

22 comments:

Sylvia K said...

What a fun, interesting post for the day, Wil!! I love all the history about the bicycle!! And the pictures are priceless! Hope you have a great week!!

Roger Owen Green said...

I'd NEVER ride if I had to use those high front wheel things!

Kay said...

Oh my goodness! This was so much fun. I love your grandson's bike best. Art and I biked through Netherlands and Belgium. The traffic was really scary.

Cloudia said...

Well done! Your nation has always been prominent in the two wheeled world!


ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Dina said...

Oh, now I know where the French word velo came from.
That tandem for parent and smaller child is nice. New to me. I wonder how kids like it.

Anonymous said...

Wow..love all the different bikes!

Leslie: said...

Gee, I had no idea there were so many difrerent kinds of bikes. I got my first one when I was 7, too, and it was a second-hand one. When my younger sister got hers a few years later, I was so mad that she got a brand new one! lol

Leslie
abcw team

Arkansas Patti said...

Ah that first bike, how special that was. I envy you being able to ride today where you live. I now live in the Ozarks and the hills are just too steep.
I hate all the drug controversy about the sport of biking. It has spoiled it for me, especially about Lance Armstrong. What a disappointment.
I liked the idea of the parent child tandem.
Your header is adorable.

Anonymous said...

What a lot of great bikes!

Beppan said...

Interesting to see and read. - And nice photos :-)

Phil Slade said...

A unique collection of bicycle photos Wil. A good read too, and thanks for visiting my blog.

photowannabe said...

Fascinating pictures of the many different types of bicycles.
I love the 1820 wooden bike and the picture of your King and the family in the carrier bicycle.

Richard Lawry said...

My daughter and her husband love to go Mountain Biking!
An Arkie's Musings

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Love this post. I read once that when introduced bicycles changed the world because for the first time young men could go courting out of their immediate neighborhood (out of walking distance)!

Carraol said...

Magnificent post, love bikes! Congrats

Kay L. Davies said...

Wow, what a fun post, Wil.
I see Kay and Art from Hawaii rode bicycles in The Netherlands and Belgium. They are much braver than we are. Of course, bicycles have the right-of-way in The Netherlands, don't they? I'm not sure about Belgium.
My husband has a bicycle but it has two flat tires and he hasn't used it for years, probably since we got the dog because dog-walking is his exercise now.
K

Ercotravels said...

Wow, how many types of bicycles are available at a time. such a lot interesting post.

Lise said...

Great B post! The wooden bike is really awesome, and I love the "I am back in a minute" bike photo, too funny!

When I was in middle school, I rode my bike to school. But since then, I've never been a big fan of bicycling unless I have a really great seat cushion!

Rajesh said...

Wonderful post. Even today to stay a fit riding bicycle is best exercise.

Hildred said...

This is a great post Wil, - such a variety of bicycles. We have an old Grist Mill in Keremeos, - it is now a tourist attraction and the Miller rides a unicycle - very well, too.

Unknown said...

Bikes, what would we do without them in Holland??
Sorry Wil -am so behind with everything, I still haven't sent you the pic at your house - while browsing here I saw you had quite some bloggers visiting you!

Reader Wil said...

I myself have an ordinary bicycle!