There are about a billion bicycles in the world

There are about a billion bicycles in the world, twice as many as motorcars. Almost 400 million bicycles are in China.

Although Leonardo da Vinci drew some rough sketches of a contraption that looked like a bicycle, the Frenchman De Sivrac built the first bicycle-type vehicle in 1690. It was referred to as a hobbyhorse. However, it did not have pedals. Those were added in 1840 by a Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who is credited with inventing the real bicycle.

The bicycle as we know it today - with two wheels of the same size - looks almost exactly the same as one from 1900.

The world speed record on a bicycle is held by John Howard of the US. In 1985 he reached 245,08 km/h (154 mph), cycling in the slipstream of a specially designed car.

Air-filled tyres were used on bicycles before they were used on motorcars.