Bicycle Coloring Page: Free Printable PDF Sheet for Kids

Bicycle: History & Fun Facts

The Bone-Shaker and the First Practical Bikes

Early 1800s bicycles had no pedals at all and were pushed along by walking, earning nicknames like the running machine, until pedals attached directly to the front wheel appeared in the 1860s on bikes riders called bone-shakers because of their stiff iron-tired ride. The safety bicycle of the 1880s introduced a chain-driven rear wheel and two equal-sized wheels, giving the modern bicycle shape still used today.

That 1880s redesign got its name for a reason: earlier bikes with a giant front wheel and a tiny back wheel, known as penny-farthings, perched the rider so high above the ground that a hard stop could send them tumbling headfirst. Dropping both wheels to a matched, smaller size and moving the pedals to the middle of the frame, roughly the layout drawn on this page, made cycling something a much wider range of riders could try without serious risk.

How the Chain and Gears Turn Pedaling Into Speed

Pushing the pedals spins a toothed sprocket that pulls the chain, which wraps around a matching sprocket on the rear wheel and makes it turn, converting leg power into forward motion far more efficiently than walking. Multi-speed bikes add several sprockets of different sizes so a rider can shift to an easier gear on hills or a harder gear for speed on flat ground.

A rider on flat pavement can typically cover three or four times the distance of someone walking in the same amount of time while using noticeably less energy per mile, which is part of why the bicycle spread so quickly once the chain-driven design caught on. The diamond-shaped frame visible in this drawing, two triangles of tubing joined at the seat post, has stayed the standard shape for well over a century because it resists bending under a rider's weight while staying light enough to pedal easily.

Bicycles as Everyday Transportation Worldwide

In many cities around the world, bicycles remain a primary way people commute to work or school because they need no fuel, produce no exhaust, and can weave through traffic that would stall a car. A basket mounted over the front or rear wheel, like the one on this page, turns a bike into a practical way to carry groceries, books, or small packages on a short trip.

Some countries build their whole transportation planning around this fact. The Netherlands has more bicycles than people, and cities such as Copenhagen maintain wide, separated bike lanes so cycling stays safe even during rush hour. A hand bell mounted near the handlebars, a common add-on not far from the basket shown here, lets a rider give a quick warning before passing a pedestrian on a shared path.

Racing, Records, and the Tour de France

Competitive cycling turned the bicycle into a sporting icon starting in the late 1800s, and the Tour de France, first held in 1903, remains one of the longest and most grueling annual sporting events anywhere, covering roughly 2,000 miles of French roads and mountain passes over three weeks. Riders in that race can average well over 25 miles per hour on flat stages, a speed that would have seemed impossible to anyone pedaling an early bone-shaker.

Bicycles have also carried people to lasting personal records outside of organized racing. Annie Londonderry became the first woman known to cycle around the world, completing the trip between 1894 and 1895 on a bike much closer in style to the sturdy, basket-equipped model pictured on this page than to any modern racing frame.