Bees and Bicycles
BEES AND BICYCLES
1. INVENTION
The evolution of the modern bicycle - from the blueprint discovered among Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts to the English safety bike which in 1885 "set the fashion to the world". The German running machine of 1817, the first pedal bicycle developed by a Scots blacksmith in 1840, the reign of the French velocipede, a re-enactment of 2,200 high- wheelers in procession at London's Hampton Court in 1882. A visual history of the bicycle.
2. WHEELS OF CHANGE
Bicycle design today and tomorrow. How the mountain bike has swept the world and now accounts for up to 45 per cent of bicycle sales in affluent markets. But is it simply a variation on a design dating from 1885 ? The recumbent really is radical bicycle engineering - with the rider semi-supine, back reclined and feet pointing forward. With less wind-resistance the recumbent is already the world's fastest bike. The machine of the future ?
3. THE ULTIMATE
A season with Greg LeMond - riding with the magnificent Tour de France and its uncertain American imitator the Tour de Trump. Who makes the money ? Do competitors take stimulants ? What's in it for the riders, the sponsors, the camp followers ? Plus some bitter exchanges between LeMond, Tour de France winner in 1986, 1989 and 1990, and former champion and five times Tour winner Eddy Merckx. The Americanisation of the greatest roadshow on Earth.
4. THE BUSINESS
How mighty bicycle manufacturers like Schwinn of the USA, Raleigh of England, and Peugeot of France have lost their pre-eminence to Japan, Taiwan and China - and how the European and American industry is fighting back. Plus the multi-billion yen racing business of Japanese Keirin. The 50 tracks where cycle super-stars attract 27-million spectators who support one of the world's biggest betting industries.
5. FREE SPIRITS
The sweetspots and obsessions of those who live by the bicycle. From the Californian computer nomad who pedals the ultimate high-tech recumbent
bicycle - to the London guru, Richard Ballantine, who has enthused a whole generation about the joys of cycling. Also featured: Beryl Burton, history's greatest women cyclist; Elaine Mariolle, who cycled across America in just over ten days; Nick Crane, who rode a mountain bike to the top of Kilimanjaro.
6. VEHICLE FOR A SMALL PLANET
The world's 800-million bicycles outnumber cars two to one. Bikes in Asia transport more people than do all the automobiles on Earth. Yet increasingly clean air, road space and fossil fuel are being sacrificed to the motor vehicle. The worst offenders are the United States - where there is one car for every two people - Western Europe and Japan. This final programme argues for a mass return to the bicycle, the perfect green vehicle for a small planet.