Bici Lab - competitive cycling & giant beginnings

Cycling is a sport with a rich and fascinating history that began in the mid-19th century. Industrialization contributed to the rise of sport as a mass phenomenon, and cycling was undoubtedly one of the most popular. It first triumphed among the elite in society, but with the turn of the century it also spread to the working classes.

Text and photos: Bici Lab Andorra

Origins of cycling

Although the predecessor of the bicycle was the draisine, invented in 1817, it wasn’t until the 1860s that velocipedes—pedal bicycles—appeared and began popularizing cycling.

Around 1870, the high-wheel bicycle was developed, called the ‘penny-farthing’ due to its resemblance to a penny and a farthing, two British coins of different sizes evoking the disproportion between the two wheels. In its day it was also known as the ‘ordinary bike’, although nowadays it’s not very ordinary to see someone riding one of these machines.

The birth of the first races

With the growing popularity of the bicycle, cycling quickly became a competitive sport. The first documented races were organized during the 1860s, with France and the United Kingdom as the sport’s birthplaces.

The first long-distance road race was the Paris-Rouen in 1869, where participants competed on velocipedes. These vehicles were fixed-gear bicycles with pedals attached to the front wheel and two roughly symmetrical wheels. The beginning of these races and the thirst for victory motivated inventors of the time to design the peculiar penny-farthing.

A disproportionately large wheel allowed riders to cover more distance with a single pedal stroke and therefore travel faster, although handling was quite dangerous and difficult. These were also the first bicycles to feature major technical innovations such as tensioned spokes and tires—initially without inner tubes.

This type of faster bicycle encouraged the emergence of numerous races. Many of these were local competitions between towns called ‘Grand Prix’ or ‘Championships’, which would become the forerunners of modern competitive cycling, both on road and track. Races at this time were not only tests of agility and endurance, but also of bravery and mechanical skill, as riders had to repair their own mechanical incidents on the go, and were surrounded by a truly heroic aura.

The legacy

Races with the so-called ‘ordinary bicycles’ paved the way for the professionalization and popularization of cycling. The desire to go faster, and to do so in a safer and more practical way eventually led to the bicycle we all know today: the so-called ‘safety bike.’

Today, these early experiences remind us how much the sport has evolved. Indeed, research and innovation continue to remain fundamental in the world of cycling in the modern era, which surely still has some surprises for us.

Discover this and many more hidden stories of cycling and bicycles at Bici Lab Andorra: much more than a bicycle museum, and a must-visit if you come to Andorra.