Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Christy van Iragon and I'm Bruce gulland Spotlight uses a
special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter
where in the world they live. A busy city street cars and trucks pass
quickly. A few people wait to cross, but then all traffic stops.
Suddenly, hundreds of people riding too wheeled bicycles fill the streets. They are
all riding together. After many minutes, the bicycles have all passed by.
The traffic starts again. What just happened? This was a critical mass.
A critical mass is any large group of people riding bicycles together for one purpose.
In China, the idea of a critical mass started for safety. Bicycle
riders would stop at street crossings. They would wait until more bicycle riders stopped.
Two Soon a large number of bicycle riders gathered. Then they all crossed
the street together. They believed this kept them safe. It is difficult for
one bicycle rider to cross a busy street alone, but it is easy for
car drivers to see a large group of bicycle riders. Today, there are
critical mass bicycle rides all over the world. Sometimes they are a kind of
protest, but sometimes they are just to show the importance of bicycles. Bicycles
are important for transportation around the world, but how did they become so important.
Today's spotlight is on the history of the bicycle. No one person invented
the bicycle. Instead, many people worked together over time. Experts say that
the first plans came from Leonardo da Vinci. This famous inventor and artist wrote
plans for a modern bicycle hundreds of years ago, but inventors did not create
the first working bicycle until the early eighteen hundreds. The first bicycle had wheels,
but it did not have pedals. To move the wheels, the rider
pushed the bicycle forward by pushing his feet against the ground. People called these
bicycles push bikes. In the eighteen fifties and sixties, French inventors changed the
design of the bicycle. They made the front wheel larger and they put pedals
on it. Riders used their feet on the pedals to push the bicycle forward.
They made this bicycle with a heavy steel frame, and they made the
wheels out of wood and iron. People called this bicycle the bone shaker.
On the stone streets of that time, the bicycle took the rider very hard.
It was a painful ride. Over the next ten years, inventors changed
the design of the bicycle even more. They made the front wheel even larger.
This increased its speed. They also added rubber tires on the wheels.
People called this bicycle the ordinary, but these kinds of bicycles were difficult to
ride. They were difficult to push forward, and it was difficult to change
directions while riding. In eighteen eighty five, JK. Starlely invented the first
modern bicycle. It looked very similar to the bicycle's people ride today. Starlely
put similar sized wheels on the front and back of the bicycle. He also
added a thin metal chain that worked between the pedals and the wheels. The
chain let bicycle riders use the back wheel to change directions. He also added
a better seat. Starley's bicycle design was a large improvement from the old kind
of bicycles, but it was still difficult to ride a Starlely bicycle. It
did not offer for a very smooth ride. But in the eighteen nineties,
inventors made more improvements to the bicycle. They used better rubber for the wheels.
They developed good breaks to stop the bicycle. It was not long before
people all around the world used bicycles for sport and play. People also started
using bicycles as their main form of transport. Bicycles helped people get from place
to place easier. Riding a bicycle is faster than walking. People also say
that making bicycles helped scientists and inventors make better machines. In fact, famous
inventors like Henry Ford and the Right Brothers used bicycle technology to create cars and
airplanes. Bicycles also had large effects on societies around the world. For example,
the bicycle changed life for women in many ways. Before bicycles were invented
in Western countries, women usually wore large, close fitting dresses, But when
women started riding bicycles, they started wearing different clothes. They wore trousers like
men usually wear. They also stopped wearing such close fitting shirts or tops.
Bicycles also made it possible for women to get around more. Some experts say
that bicycles made women feel more independent. They made more women desire and demand
freedom and respect. Bicycles also changed the lives of people in cities. They
helped reduce crowding in cities. People could live outside the city, then they
could ride bicycles into the city to work. Bicycles also made it easier for
men and women to meet and marry. It expanded families because men and women
could meet people who lived outside their small towns. Many things have changed since
the first bicycle. More people use cars, buses, and trucks for transport
now, but inventors have made great improvements to the bicycle. Today's bicycles are
easy to ride, they are much more comfortable, and they can go very
fast. Bicycles continue to be a popular form of transportation in many parts of
the world. In fact, in many places, bicycles are still the main
form of transportation. There are many good reasons to ride a bicycle. Bicycles
do not damage the environment like cars do. Riding bicycles is good for your
health. Also, riding a bicycle costs less money than driving a car.
You do not need gas to ride a bicycle, and bicycles cost less money
to fix. Imagine what your city would look like if everyone used a bicycle
to get around instead of a car or bus. There are some cities in
the world that do look like this. Many cities in China and another contain
more bicycles than cars. But in many cities around the world, people do
not respect bicycle riders. In fact, in many modern cities, it can
be very dangerous to ride a bicycle. Many people die every year in bicycle
and car accidents. This is one reason why people ride their bicycles in a
critical mass. They want people to recognize bicycle riders. They want people to
learn to watch for them on the road. They want people to understand that
bicycles are still an important form of transportation today. The writer of this program
was Sarah DeCosta. The producer was Luke Hailey. The voices you heard were
from the United Kingdom and at the United States. You can listen to this
program again and read it on the internet at www dot Radio English dot net.
This program is called History of the Bicycle. We hope you can join
us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,