The Velocipede
Power to the Pedals
Richard Byington
Click Here to read Richard's previous article: The Draisienne

In the previous article, we focused on the creation of the world's first two-wheeled vehicle, the Draisienne. In summary, for those who may have missed April's article, the Draisienne was basically a walking aide, created by Karl Von Drais, a land surveyor, to help alleviate the massive territory that he was assigned to speculate. Von Drais attached wheels and a steering mechanism to a celeriferes, or wheeled hobbyhorse, dubbed the lauf maschine (running machine), to lessen his workload in the field. Von Drais called his invention the Draisienne, which, in essence, was the birth of the modern bicycle. This prototypical bicycle lacked one key ingredient that would transform walking machines into the most energy efficient means of transportation ever created.

In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan took the Draisienne one step further up the bicycle evolutionary scale. Macmillan, a blacksmith by trade, saw a hobbyhorse being ridden near his home. He quickly deduced that without your feet touching the ground, the vehicle would be a much faster, more efficient means of travel. Thus, Macmillan quickly developed a self-propelled Draisienne, called a velocipede, or fast foot, which became the first leg-powered pedal cycle.

The power transmission for Macmillan's velocipede lay in loose hinged, swinging pedals attached to cranks that connected to the rear wheel. This pedal/crank arm configuration bears little resemblance to today's bicycle. Macmillan's velocipede transferred power by incorporating side-by-side, horizontally positioned pedals attached to rods, which by swaying back-and-forth, like the front swing-arm of early locomotives, transmitted power to the rear wheel via the connecting crank arms.

The Macmillan velocipede weighed-in at a portly 56-pounds because, right down to the wheels, it was sculpted entirely out of wood. Many proponents of the velocipede labeled it, "The Boneshaker," for its less-than-forgiving ergonomics. Macmillan quickly mastered the velocipede, and began touring the Scottish countryside. Frequently, Macmillan cycled fourteen miles to the nearby town of Dumfries to show-off the fruits of his labor to the bewildered township. Vanity, and a high threshold for pain, led Macmillan to travel sixty-eight miles to Glasgow via his boneshaker. While he was there, Macmillan's invention seeped into the collective conscious of many "financially-minded" individuals. One of these entrepreneurs was, Gavin Dalzel of Lesmahagow, Scotland, who passed-on the creative details of the velocipede, in such volume that many regard Lesmahagow as the inventor of the bicycle. Copies of the Macmillan velocipede sold for seven pounds each, in which Macmillan received nothing, due to foregoing the patenting processes for his powered bicycle.

Richard Byington
Orlando Florida