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 Today,
countless people all over the world ride bicycles. This is because
it is a wonderful means of transport. It is also a wonderful
form of exercise. Bicycles are environmentally-friendly
because they don’t pollute the air. Currently,
there are about a billion bicycles in the world.
But how much do you know about them? Please keep reading to learn
facts about bicycles you may not have known!
About 100 million bicycles are made
worldwide each year. Currently, there are over a half billion bicycles
in China alone. Bikes were first brought to China in the late 1800s.
Today, bicycles are very important for transportation in the world’s
most populous country.
 Then,
who invented a bicycle? A long
time ago, Leonardo da Vinci drew some rough sketches of a device
that looked like a bicycle. But he is not the inventor of a bicycle. In
1690, a Frenchman named De Sivrac built the first bicycle-type vehicle. But it did not have
pedals. Pedals were added in 1840 by a Scottish blacksmith named Kirkpatrick
Macmillan.He is considered as the inventor of the real bicycle.
The term “bicycle” was not introduced
until the 1860s. People in France came up with the name to describe a new kind of two-wheeler
with a mechanical drive. Air-filled tires were used
on bicycles before they were used on cars.
Riding a bicyle has a number of health benefits.
Riding a bike for three hours or 30 kilometers per week cuts your
risk of heart disease in half. Riding
a bicycle can also protect against high blood pressure, obesity and stress.
 Also, you
can travel 3 times faster than you would walking when on a bicycle
while exerting the same amount
of energy. Many people in Asia and Europe use their bicycles when
traveling short distances. However, on the average, Americans only
use their bikes for every one in a hundred trips. If they double their bike usage,
they would save a lot of gasoline and help protect the environment. |
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