H.W.Libbey 1897

H.W.Libbey 1897

Frank Powers and his celebrated Electric Bicycle. Lunenburg, NS 1896

Frank Powers and his celebrated Electric Bicycle. Lunenburg, NS 1896

The Collectors ABC1: Early Bikes

From The Collectors: Paul Farren says he and his wife Charlie probably have 85% of the pre -1900s bicycles in Australia, and all under one roof. Thirty years of hunting them down and collecting has resulted in one of the top 10 early bike collections in the world – it includes 160 pre-1900 bicycles, some post-1900 bikes, tricycles, hobby horses, and penny farthings…

Full article and video here:

http://www.melbournecyclist.com/video/the-collectors-abc1-early

Direct link to flash video:

The Collectors ABC1: Early Bikes

There’s also a collection of pics of the bikes on Flickr. Flickr slideshow here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63757337@N00/tags/farren/show/

Lots of fun stuff to see:

Annie Kopchovsky 1870–1947

First woman to bicycle around the world!  I just had to look her up after seeing Evalyn Parry’s terrific show “Spin” at Tranzac the other night…

Here she is on the day she started her trip in 1894:

That bike (42 pounds!) didn’t last long… When she got to Chicago the Sterling Cycle Works company gave her a mens bike (only 21 pounds!)… and Annie switched from skirts to “bloomers”. The whole trip took 15  months.

Great story and bit of HERstory (smile)… turns out her great-grandnephew has recently written a book about her and he has a nice web site here:

http://www.annielondonderry.com/index.html

California Cycleway 1890

Nine miles from Pasadena to LA. 10 cents one way, 15 cents round trip…

History in the making

Hey, wherez the group/forum/??? to report bike thefts via BikingToronto??

Anywhooo, a little history in the making… Yesterday, one of these was stolen from outside the CBC building at Wellington and John:

…Yer looking at a state-of-the-art ebike from A2B named the Metro… First one stolen in Toronto and the thief has no idea watt he/she has in their hands. Without the special charger it’s not gonna be much fun after a bit either, once the pack needs a recharge… I doubt there are more than two or three of these Metros in Toronto now.

Ya can PM me if you hear of an unusual bike or bike bits someone is trying to sell.  NOT MY BIKE! I just really hate thieves…

The stolen bike is black as pictured. Most of the components are custom and branded by the manufacturer (“UM” for Ultra Motors.) S/Numbers:

Chassis: F001F0041
Battery: SATDAB9080692
Motor: UM0920207

Tks

loCk

Struggling up the shoreline of Lake Algonquin

On windy daze, cyclists can get merry uphills…

SPIN at at the Tranzac Club Thursday May 20, 2010 8:30pm

This event sounds like FABULOUS FUN!

An old-fashioned bicycle
hooked up to modern-day effect pedals
meets the wit of wordsmith in

SPIN

a musical, poetic and theatrical investigation of
The Bicycle
as muse, musical instrument, and instrument of social change

written and performed by Evalyn Parry
with Brad Hart on the bicycle, and Anna Friz on the pedals

Coming to the London Music Club for one night only, MAY 19th, 2010, SPIN is an inventive blending of music, theatre and technology in a performance that welds together social history, social commentary and sonic experiment.

Award-winning Toronto songwriter and spoken word artist Evalyn Parry crafts a tale that travels from 19th century feminism to the end of oil – from Annie Londonderry, the first woman to ride around the world in 1895, to Igor Kenk, Toronto’s most notorious bicycle thief – in pursuit of two-wheeled freedom in a four-wheeled world.

want to know more? www.evalynparry.com/spin

http://bikingtoronto.com/events/spin-by-evalyn-parry

EDIT – UPDATE: This was FUN. Terrific history about folks like Amelia Bloomer and Annie Kopchovsky, but also told so well by Evalyn and fellow performers. Opening act Coco Love Alcorn has some very fun songs as well. So, Evalyn and Coco both get thumbs up, but Evalyns work to bring this bicycle and womans history to the stage is unique. Tks.

1903 First motorized trip across North America

Popular Science magazine 1977

Hub Motor Popular Science article 1977

Hub Motor Popular Science article 1977