1. June 3 has been declared World Bicycle Day by the United Nations because cycling is a source of social, economic and environmental benefits and brings people together. The first form of the bicycle was propelled by working pedals on cranks fitted to the front axle. The French inventor coined a term to refer to these from the Latin words for ‘swift’ and ‘foot’. What is the bicycle’s original name?
2. Kirkpatrick Macmillan was a Scottish blacksmith who in 1824 saw a hobby horse on the road and decided to make one for himself. Upon completion, he realised he could radically improve it. The early hobby horses were propelled by feet on the ground (like how the Flintstones did it in the cartoons). What did Macmillan add that made his invention the very first true bicycle?
3. The very first machine to be known as a ‘bicycle’ was produced in the 1870s. It had a large front wheel which allowed high speeds and was more comfortable than other machines as the wheel acted as a shock absorber. It had a much smaller back wheel which acted as the stabiliser. Due to the apparent resemblance to two differently-sized coins produced in Britain at that time, this machine had a popular nickname. What was it known as?
4. The 1840s saw a boom in bicycle riding. Cyclists were the first vehicle operators in a generation to go on long journeys, town to town. Organisations such as Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC) in the U.K. and League of American Wheelmen (LAW) in the U.S. lobbied county surveyors and politicians for something which had far-reaching results. Till then, poor areas used cobbles and upmarket areas used granite setts. Thanks to cyclists, what semi-solid form of petroleum started being used to make journeys more comfortable?
5. Mackinac Island, located in Lake Huron in Michigan, covers 9.8 sq. km. The entire island is a National Historic Landmark comprising forts, houses and churches from the early 1800s. One can reach the island by boat or small aircraft. Since 1898 though, a law has been in place which is followed strictly unless in times of emergency, which makes it a paradise for cyclists. What is the law?
6. On November 21, 1963, India made its entry into an exclusive club. The world took notice and was even more surprised to see a picture of a vital component of this event being transported on the back of a bicycle. Another picture followed where a bullock-cart was used, the reason being that it was the only metal-free transport they had at that time. Which organisation’s humble beginnings were on the back of that cycle?
7. The _____ Cycle Company was where two brothers began their bicycle repair, rental and sales business in 1892 in Ohio. They invented the self-oiling hub and the innovation of machining the crankarm and pedal on the left side of the bike with left-hand threads to prevent the pedal from coming unscrewed while cycling. They used the profits from these inventions and the skills learnt over time to finance their experiments. On December 17, 1903, they wheeled out their major experiment from their cycle company and made history. Who were these brothers?
8. Hans Augusto Reyersbach and his wife Margret Rey were German Jews in Paris. World War II broke out and the Nazis were advancing towards Paris. Reyersbach quickly built two bicycles from spare parts and gathered his wife’s artwork and a bunch of manuscripts he had written about ‘Raffy and the 9 monkeys’. They eventually made it to Brazil with no baggage and money and only these documents. In 1940, those stories were published and became an instant hit with children. Which character who keeps getting into trouble owes his existence to that bicycle ride?
9. Māris Štrombergs of Latvia and Anne-Caroline Chausson of France became the first cyclists to win gold in bicycle motocross or BMX (an extreme style of bicycle track racing) in an event in 2008. This ensured the fledgling sport was now in the big league. What was the event?
10. Fred Birchmore was from Athens, Georgia. His Reinhardt bicycle, nicknamed ‘Bucephalus’, is in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It has been immortalised because of a trip Birchmore took from 1935 to 1937. After going through seven sets of tyres and traversing 40,000 km, what did Birchmore and Bucephalus become the first in the world to do?
Answers
1. Velocipede
2. He added pedals which were connected through shafts to the back wheels
3. Penny-farthing
4. Asphalt or bitumen-covering on roads
5. Automobiles are banned on the island
6. Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)
7. The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur
8. Curious George
9. 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China
10. Cycle around the world
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
