A brief but entertaining history of cycling

This morning, while deliberating on what I was going to write about today, I was presented with a link to this wonderful video documenting the history of cycling. Thanks Bikepacking.com for sharing, and Blackburn for producing the film. I think it’s a great piece, and well worth the 18 minutes that it’ll take to go through it. Seriously, there’s some pretty cool history here!

“Comes With Baggage” is a lighthearted history of bicycle travel in the Americas, that makes you want to sell your possessions, quit your job and escape on a bike. Past and current footage, along with interviews of bike pioneers, makers and historians are combined to give a unique perspective on where bicycles can take you, both physically and spiritually. – Source

For example, the video talks about the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corp who completed a 1900 mile journey in 1897. That, in itself, is a cool story, and you can read more about it here and here. It also shows how the “modern” bikepacking bags that are in use by many today are not so modern after all.

I’ve also noted, both from this film and from other reading that I’ve done, that the sailors’ very short term memory – that which allows them to quickly forget horrendous passages to set sail from safe harbors again and again – is very much akin to the cycle tourist’s ability to quickly forget crappy days on the road and trail. We’ve definitely experienced the sailor’s version, and I’m sure we’ll experience the cyclist’s first hand soon enough.