There are about a billion bicycles in the world, twice as many as motorcars. Almost 400 million bicycles are in China. Every year some 50 million bicycles - and 20 million cars - are produced.

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.

On a penny-farthing bicycle, one pedal gave the wheel one turn. A lot of pedalling was needed to get around! With the advent of gears, bicycles could move as fast as cars.

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

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

The first five-seat bicycle, the quindem, was built in 1940.

The world speed record on a bicycle is held by John Howard, Olympic Cyclist and Ironman triathlon winner from the US. In 1985 he reached 245,08 km/h (152.2 mph), cycling in the slipstream of a specially designed car.

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This video is titled 'Bike Bloopers', but aren't bloopers something unplanned and BIZZARE that happens...something out of the ordinary? Racing bikes one can EXPECT TO CRASH ans be injured...so are these really bloopers? Couldn't this guy expect the HORRIBLE outcome he had?

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