16 interesting facts about bicycles

1. There are more bicycles than cars in the world.
2. The first human powered land vehicle was constructed by Giovanni Fontana in 1418.
3. A long time ago, bicycles were faster than cars.
4. The term "bicycle" first entered into popular usage in France in the 1860s.
5. The first bicycles were made without pedals.
6. The smallest adult bicycle ever created had wheels made from silver dollars.
7. The first bicycle was called a hobbyhorse.
8. Half of all the parts of a typical bicycle are in the chain.
9. The fastest cyclist is Olympian John Howard. He rode at an amazing 245.08 km/h (152.2 mph) by slipstreaming a car.
10. Lance Armstrong's heart is one-third larger than "normal." (Lance is also the seventh cousin of Katie Couric and sixth cousin of Hilary Duff.)
11. Car tyres were modified out of bicycle tyres.
12. There are at least 400 bicycle clubs in thr USA, with membership ranging from 10 to 4,000 members.
13. From 1990 to 2005, only one fatal crash with a motor vehicle in NYC occurred when a bicyclist was in a marked bike lane.
14. According to Transportation Alternatives, 10% of New York City's work force--approximately 65,000 humans--commute by bicycle.
15. Bicycles use 2% as much energy as cars per passenger-kilometer, and cost less than 3% as much to purchase.
16. Research has shown that tripling the number of bike riders on the street cuts motorist-bicyclist crashes in half.