|
|
In 1817 a German inventor named Drais de Sauerbrunn, built a bike that
you could turn the front wheel from left to right with handlebars on.
This was how you steered from left to right. He called it the Draisienne and it was a great
success. These were very
handy back then seeing as were a fast was to get around and didn’t
need a stable, food or need to be looked after every day.
Copies of it soon appeared in England.
They called them "hobby horses.”
They had no pedals gears or breaks and were used a lot for down
hill racing. There were disadvantages to this bike too. It was a very bumpy ride and the riders got their feet all
dirty, muddy and wet in bad weather because they had to push along the
ground with their feet. Usually only men rode these bicycles.
The women’s long dresses made it very hard for them to run
across the ground. So for
them a 3-wheel model was made. Floor
pedals and handgrips powered them.
When the rider pumped the paddles and pulled on the handgrips a
rope turned a crank and made the front wheel turn to make it go forward.
These were not easy to ride.
They weighed up to 200 pounds and had to be pushed up hills.
In two years the craze was gone and for the next 40 years
bicycles were a rare thing to see out on the roads and the few who kept
riding them were teased and laughed at.
|
|
