Author: Steve Wartenberg

My Favorite Rides (#3): The Loire’s Azay & Villandry Castle, Apple Loop

~ Steve Wartenberg ~ 2 Comments

The Loire holds a special place in my cycling heart – and history. It was here, in 1985, that I first hopped on a (rented) bike, promptly fell over, and quickly got hooked on cyclotourisme, learned how to read a Michelin map and appreciate a croissant sandwich. That very first ride, from Blois to Chambord … Continue reading My Favorite Rides (#3): The Loire’s Azay & Villandry Castle, Apple Loop

Bicycle History: A Propeller Bike, Bicycle Baby Cart, Steam-Powered & More Inventions That Didn’t Quite Make It

~ Steve Wartenberg ~ Leave a comment

A bicycle ambulance, a “celebrated” vehicle that rides the rails, a baby buggy attachment, a steam-powered velocipede and, my favorite: a twin-screw, propeller-powered bike!  These are some of the more creative build-a-better bike inventions that great thinkers and tinkerers came up after the modern-safety bicycle was developed in the 1860s. I found all these stories … Continue reading Bicycle History: A Propeller Bike, Bicycle Baby Cart, Steam-Powered & More Inventions That Didn’t Quite Make It

Bicycle History: Dogs Have Been Chasing & Biting Cyclists Since the 1700s

~ Steve Wartenberg ~ 1 Comment

Soon after the first velocipedist headed out for a ride, a dog gave “chafe.”  Chafe? That’s how they spelled the word chase back in the days of Old English, the long s and the first canine attacks. I found evidence of the delight dogs take in chasing bicycle-like vehicles, and sinking their teeth into riders, as … Continue reading Bicycle History: Dogs Have Been Chasing & Biting Cyclists Since the 1700s

This Day in Cycling History: Trois Weddings and A Funeral (1876, 1892)

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Newspaper cycling stories from around the world (France and England) ... Paris ... The last Paris sensation is a velocipede wedding, twenty couples going to one on double velocipedes. They went to the Bois de Boulogne, headed by a mounted fiddler, and, after enjoying themselves, filed away to a restaurant, and wheeled home at night, … Continue reading This Day in Cycling History: Trois Weddings and A Funeral (1876, 1892)