THOUSANDS of American cyclists created the Good Roads Movement in the late 1800s to campaign for a better ride. The unexpected results of their efforts were the smoother roads that, quite literally, paved the way for cars.
In Bicycle, David Herlihy chronicles the ups and downs of two-wheelers, from the velocipede of 1817 to today’s high-tech racing and mountain bikes, and lavishly illustrates his story with period pictures and posters in full colour. Nothing can assuage the author’s disappointment that after the brief bike boom – beginning about 1890 thanks to the British “Rover”, and ending before 1900 –…
