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In addition to state, religious and professional holidays, we can meet many other rather peculiar dates on the calendar. So, some inventions, for example, a bicycle, have their own holiday.
When is Bicycle Day celebrated in Our Country and the world
Bicycle Day has a fixed date and is celebrated 3 June.
history of the holiday
World Bicycle Day is a recent event. In 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing a new holiday. The document was co-authored by 56 states, and the initiator was the sociologist Leszek Sibilsky.
It is not by chance that the bicycle received a personal holiday from the UN. This is the most affordable and most environmentally friendly mode of transport. It is chosen by those who care about the environment, as well as their own health. Bicycling allows you to be mobile, socially involved and explore the environment, all of which are in line with the goals of the UN.
Holiday traditions
Of course, the best way to celebrate Bicycle Day is to go on a trip. Various competitions and bike rides are timed to coincide with this date. It is also an excellent occasion to think about rational consumption, respect for the environment.
Cyclist Day in the Netherlands
It is no secret that this type of transport is extremely popular in the Netherlands. So much so that the Dutch celebrate Cyclist’s Day (Landelijke Fietsdag) every year on the second Saturday in May.
The history of the appearance of the bicycle
The bicycle has a 200-year history, during which interest in it either increased or faded.
In 1818, Carl von Dres from Karlsruhe patented the first two-wheeled scooter. Outwardly, he resembled a bicycle without pedals, and developed a speed of more than 10 km / h. The creator himself called it a “running machine” (Laufmaschine), and in Europe it became known as a “trolley”. The novelty was a great success in Britain, where it received the nickname “dandy horse”.
Interest in the bicycle did not last long, but it was not completely forgotten. In particular, work continued on improving the model. So, Denis Johnson made the height of the saddle adjustable, and later, in 1839 – 1840, Kirkpatrick Macmillan supplemented the design with pedals. Independently of him, in 1862, the same thought occurred to Pierre Lallemant. Lalman patented his invention, and the industrialists Olivier brothers launched it into mass production. The people called bicycles “bone shakers”.
In the 1860s and 1870s, new models also appeared: the “penny-farthing” with a very large front wheel, a rather dangerous design. He developed a speed of about 25 km / h. Only men could ride it. Next came tricycle models for women, with three wheels, tandem bikes for pair rides. Gradually, cycling became fashionable in secular society, even among members of the royal family.
If the first bicycles were made of wood, then in the second half of the XNUMXth century they became metal. The wheels had spokes, rubber tires, and then the device was supplemented by a chain drive.
The real boom came with the advent of the “safe” bike. In 1885, John Kempo Starley introduced a new Rover (English “wanderer”) model. Unlike the penny-farthing bike, the rover’s wheels were the same size, with the rider seated between the wheels. From this time begins the golden era of the bicycle.
At the beginning of the 1960th century, automobiles gained popularity. Bicycles gradually became a child’s toy, only to become fashionable again in the late XNUMXs. The bicycle has become an integral part of the image of a person leading a healthy lifestyle and caring for the environment.
Interesting Facts
One of the first images of a two-wheeled bicycle is attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci.
There is a legend that the Ural craftsman Efim Artamonov was the first to invent the bicycle. He is also credited with the first run from the Tagil factory settlement to Moscow. This story has no evidence.
There is a version that the 2016 weather anomaly, which arose due to the eruption of the Tambora volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, influenced the distribution of the bicycle. Bad harvests, a decrease in the number of horses in the so-called “Year without a summer” made us remember the “railcar”.
The birth date of cycling is considered May 1, 1868. On this day, the first 2000-meter cycling race took place in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris.
The following year, the race Paris – Rouen took place, the distance between them was 120 km.
On July 4, 1883, the first cycling race in Our Country took place at the Moscow Hippodrome.
Thomas Svinens was the first person to circumnavigate the world by bicycle between 1884 and 1886. In total, he drove his penny farthing for about 13500 kilometers.
In 1911 – 1913, the Onisim Petrovich Pankratov made a round-the-world trip on a Gritsner bicycle. During the trip, Onesimus had to change 11 chains, 2 steering wheels, 53 tires, 750 spokes.
The bicycles of the 1890s were made of rusting steel, not painted, and they required rather laborious maintenance. They were cleaned, lubricated and flushed with gasoline or kerosene after each ride. In the 1895 manual, the description of “routine bicycle cleaning” took up 4 pages.
Bicycles made a whole revolution in women’s clothing: it was impossible to ride a rover in a dress, and a women’s cycling suit came into use, consisting of wide trousers to the knee, turning into tight trousers.
Early feminists positioned the bicycle as a vehicle for the emancipation of women.
The bicycle is used as official transport by postal, medical and police services in a number of countries, especially in rural areas.
Individual and group cycling are Olympic sports.
The first Olympic cycling race took place at the 1896st Olympic Games in Athens in 87 at a distance of XNUMX km.