The History of Bicycles #1

Bicycles have been around us for two hundred years. Some sources say that even Leonardo da Vinci sketched a primitive version of a bike in 1493. Bicycles have evolved a lot during that time. Below I have put together the most important and interesting facts about the beginning of bikes.

The first bicycle - was called "The Celerifere" and had no steering, no pedals and was all made of wood, it was created by a French engineer in 1790. "The Draisienne" - similar bike but upgraded with front wheel steering was created 30 years later by a German Baron. To use those bicycles you had to seat on them and propel them by your feet hence the English name "push bike". Nowadays kids learn to keep balance on similar bikes.

       ⟸ The Celerifere 













                           The Draisienne ⟹














Adding pedals was a huge improvement - 20 years after "The Draisienne" a Scottish blacksmith added first pedal set-up. It was a giant step forward because you could ride more effectively and for longer distance. Macmillan who created this bike rode 70 miles to visit his family.

 "The Boneshaker" - created in 1866 had steering, saddle and cranks with pedals which propelled the front wheel. But riding on it was a little difficult because it's wheels were made of metal so on cobblestone roads you can imagine how uncomfortable it was, that's why it was called "The Boneshaker".

                                                    "The Boneshaker"

"High Wheeler"- before "Safety Bicycle" was created in 1885 which had a technical concept similar to what we ride nowadays, bikes had big front wheels. Why? Because the bigger wheel you had the longer distance you could ride on one revolution of cranks. So people wanted as big a wheel as was available to the length of their legs.

It's all for today, I will continue the history of bicycles in my next posts.



http://www.ibike.org/library/history-timeline.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/bikes-an-illustrated-history-365776

Danny MacAskill

Today I'm going to write about a man who inspires and motivates me to ride bikes, his name is Danny MacAskill. He was born in 1985 in Dunvegan which is a small town on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Now he is probably the most famous bike rider in the world.

He started riding bikes as a child riding around where he grew up. He published his first video "Inspired Bicycles" on April 2009. I like this film because we can see there how he tried to make progress and even if he failed he never gave up. He still sets himself new goals and tries to achieve them which we can see this on his latest video "The Ridge". It is also interesting to see the "the making of" where it is shown how he overcomes the hardships while making the stunt. He also makes his productions trying to show us the beauty of the cities or the tragedy of them e.g on his film "Epecuen" where he shows us a place which is completely destroyed by water. In his films he does things that are unenviable for most people. Tricks that he makes are very very difficult and they take lots of time to learn. When I ride a bike I often think of him, of his skills and tricks that he has made on his films and I hope that if I try really hard one day I will be able to make similar video.

http://www.inspiredbicycles.com/danny_macaskill_r3.php
Inspired BicyclesEpecuen
The Ridge - Making frontflip
The Ridge - Making the gap

Why bikes? / Bike locality Saalbach - Hinterglemm

Why bikes?

Why bikes? Why I have chosen this particular topic? I think is mostly because of my dad. He also is crazy about bikes so from who if not him I had to draw my inspiration and hobby.

I love riding bikes, I try to ride as often as it is possible. I very often go with my dad to the mountains to enjoy cycling. I read lots of magazines and other blogs about bikes.

On my blog I'm going to write about bicycles and all things relevant, like:

• New trends, innovations, gadgets.
• Bests cycling spots in Poland and abroad.
• Reviews and my opinions on things related to bikes.

In this post I would like to introduce you to one of the best places for mountain biking in Europe, which is Saalbach - Hinterglemm in Austria, where I spent my last holidays. 

As the names suggest the spot comprises of two localities Saalbach and Hinterglemm which are tiny villages about 3 km apart.

By its nature it's a skiing resort with all suitable infrastructure like numerous cable cars etc.

Why would anyone want to spend their summer bike holidays there, then? Because you can use all this infrastructure for cycling.

Probably it's the only bike locality where riders receive as much support and have their lives made easy.

• If you are accommodated within the village you receive a special "Joker Card" which allows you to use all available uplifts (with your bicycle of course), aquapark, tennis courts and others facilities for FREE. You also receive discounts on attractions like paragliding, quads and many others.
• There are more than 400km of trails so there is always something new and you can improve your riding skills all the time.
• Local people are very kind and helpful, so the atmosphere is fantastic.
• There are also lots of hiking trails and attractions for those who don't like riding a bike, so you can take your non-riding family with you.

Speaking on bike trails: they are fantastic! The landscapes are breathtaking! The fun that you can have while riding there is unique! There are all kinds of trails from easy ones suitable even for beginners to very difficult ones - only for experienced riders. Certainly even on smooth easy trails seasoned old pros can have fun if their ride fast enough :))

Altogether I think that in Saalbach every keen rider will find something interesting and have fun. This place is definitely worth visiting. I highly recommend Saalbach as a place to spend holidays in the Alps.

The world’s English mania

“The World’s English mania”

What do I find disturbing in this presentation?

• After watching that presentation I had a feeling that he wanted to promote English and say that it’s necessary to speak it well to have good future. But there is more languages that make us able to communicate all over the world and get chance to have a good job.
• China is one of the biggest country in the world and they have the biggest population in the world, but Chinese students start learning English in the third grade by law. I think Chinese children should be able to chose which language do they want to learn. Nowadays English is not the world’s most popular language, it’s Chinese and Spanish. Students shouldn’t be forced to learn English because even without it they have opportunity for very good life.
• For me also disturbing were the sounds that he added to photos. They weren’t in a good quality, so it makes the presentation worst. And also that he laughed when he said about religious mania (it makes me feel that the presentation is unprofessional).