motorcycle

So one of the best all around motorcycle races in the world is over...the Weston Beach Race sent Travis Pastrana to the hospital and Stefan Everts lapping the field...
Guy "Top Pimp" Giroux got 15th on a borrowed bike still suffering from jet lag as he never even knew he was racing until 4 days before the event... Here is the official release... Everts Wins Weston On Bike It Dixon Yamaha press release; photos by OTH Eight times World Motocross Champion Stefan Everts took on his latest off season challenge on Sunday, the Belgian completely destroyed the 1000 strong field at the 21st annual Weston Beach Race staged at the British seaside resort , Everts on a standard YZ465F Bike It Dixon prepared Yamaha machine lapped down to second (2nd) !!!!!!!!! position after 19 laps of the treacherous sand course, race promoter Gareth Hockey put on a great show attracting many top class riders and the 100,000 spectators that lined the sea front left not disappointed.Top American showman Travis Pastrana crashed on the opening lap and dislocated his wrist, former 125 World Champion James Dobb crashed out with a suspected broken arm whilst Ulsterman Gordon Crockard on a borrowed CR500 hybrid two stroke machine retired in the closing laps when the ‘self prepared’ machine overheated milf.Everts teamed up with Steve Dixon of the Bike It Yamaha squad and the pair devised a one stop strategy, Dixon was amazed at Everts smooth and flowing style, in 19 laps, Everts only consumed 19 litres of fuel and lapped the entire field with the exception of former World Enduro champ Paul Edmondson. Everts showed the true capabilities of the stock Yamaha machinery, he himself is used to a hand built factory machine, the Belgian walked away with 2,000 Euro’s on prize money but was disappointed with the knowledge that although he finished ten minutes ahead of Edmondson he could have romped the entire field to prove to everyone that he must be regarded as one of the world’s best ever off road riders. The Bike It Yamaha made two stops during the three-hour race, the first for an ultra-slick fuel stop after one and a half hours and the second on the penultimate lap, Everts mouth was dry and he stopped for a drink, had he continued he would have lapped everyone on the circuit and many not just once!

A bicycle

A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle with two wheels arranged in line. First introduced in 19th century Europe, it evolved quickly into its current basic design. With over one billion in the world today, bicycles provide the principal means of transportation in many regions and a popular form of recreation in others.
No specific time or person can be identified with the invention of the bicycle. Its earliest known forebears were called velocipedes, and included the scooter-like dandy horses of the French Comte de Sivrac, dating to 1790, and German tax collector Karl von Drais, who rode his 1816 machine on his rounds. All the aforementioned were literally pushbikes, in that they were powered by the action of the rider's feet against the ground. A Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick MacMillan, is credited with adding a treadle drive mechanism in 1840, for the first time enabling the rider to lift his feet off the ground. MacMillan is also reported to have been the first cyclist to receive a traffic fine, after knocking over a pedestrian.
In the 1850s and 1860s, Frenchman Ernest Michaux and his pupil Pierre Lalloment placed pedals on a enlarged front wheel. Their creation, aptly called the Boneshaker, featured a heavy steel frame on which were mounted wooden wheels with iron tires. The boneshaker was further refined by James Starley in the 1870's. He mounted the seat more squarely over the pedals, so that the rider could push more firmly, and further enlarged the front wheel to increase the potential speed. His machine became known as an ordinary. British cyclists likened the disparity in size of the two wheels to their coinage, nicknaming it the "penny-farthing". This model was difficult to ride however, and the high seat and poor weight distribution made for dangerous falls.
The dwarf ordinary which followed addressed some of these faults, by reducing the front wheel diameter and setting the saddle farther back. Pedaling was accomplished by levers or off-set pedals, and gearing was added, thus compensating for speed loss. However, having to both pedal and steer via the front wheel remained a problem. Starley's nephew, J. K. Starley, J. H. Lawson, and Shergold solved this problem by introducing rear wheel drive, using a roller chain. Starley's 1885 Rover is usually described as the first recognisably modern bicycle. These dwarf safeties, or safety bicycles, were so-named for their smaller front wheels, better weight distibution, and lower seating height. Soon the seat tube was added, creating the double-triangle, diamond frame of the modern bike.