Tit for Tat

Maybe there was some sibling rivalry through the early years, the good, healthy kind of sibling rivalry where, because of the friendly competition, bikes and cars became better machines together. Tit-for-tat.

The growth toward becoming better was far from equitable however. America was solidifying itself as the world’s hub of innovation and manufacture, and the car was on the fast track to celebrity with new ideas to make it safer and faster, popping into American dreams every time the sandman came peeking through the bedroom window. Braking, steering, and drive-train system advances pushed the auto industry forward while the bike remained stuck in time, the same chain-driven steel contraption it had always been, an alligator in a mammalian world.

Once the auto took off, ideas to make the bicycle better were few and far between. Instead, Daimler’s motor driven bicycle got a shot of attention as more gas tanks were bolted to top tubes, more engines replaced crank arms, and the motorcycle was developed with an auto-like fervor. The early years of the twentieth century saw many start-up companies cooking with this new fire; Indian, Excelsior, Pierce, and Merkel were just a few early chefs trying to find the tastiest recipe for motorcycle pie. In 1903, William Harley and his buddies Arthur and Walter Davidson hit on just the right blend of sugar and salt when they incorporated into the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. What a pie it was, I mean, talk about iconic Americana...how many companies are still even around from back then?

Even though they were destined for years of growth and an immutable place in American hearts, cars weren’t very popular in those early years on either end of the turn of the twentieth century. They just weren't affordable for the working man. But you didn’t have to be Henry Ford or Carnac the Magnificent to see where the future was heading and a few bicycle manufacturers, jumped ship and made the forward looking leap to auto production. That was where the money was. In fact, the first commercially successful safety bicycle invented by Englishman John Starley was called “the Rover”…yeah, that Rover–the very same company that eventually brought us the Land Rover…the legendary 4-wheel drive machine that was just as at home chasing prides of lions through Africa’s grasslands as it was plying the streets of London.

This is hugely important in understanding today's conflict. Very early on, before many roads (especially rural roads) had any pavement, before stop lights as we know them, speed limits, and traffic cops, We the People decided that the auto and motorization would be the standard-bearers of American transportation. Bicycles were pushed from the streets like the horse and carriage...eventually ending up, like the pedal car, no more than a children's toy.

That's the part of this history that's hard for a cyclist like myself to swallow. Roads grew and became the sweet, smooth riding, pavement they are today because of America's early growing interest in the automobile, not my beloved bicycle. Roads and cars grew up together...the bike? Stuck baby-sitting, minding the kids.