Bicycle Inventors
Gordon Hobbis October 25, 2007

The actual inventor of the bicycle may never be known but if you are Scottish then you can be proud that a fellow Scot stands tall in the bicycles history. That person is a blacksmith named Kirkpatrick Macmillan. His name is on the list of famous Scotsman, joining such other luminaries as; Charles Mackintosh, the inventor of the raincoat; James Chalmers, the inventor of the self adhesive postage stamp; and John Napier, the inventor of logarithms. Mr. Macmillan is credited with inventing the first front steering, rear drive, pedal operated two wheeled vehicle. The credit may be more folklore than fact but that’s never stopped a Scot before. There is no surviving bicycle that was built by Kirkpatrick Macmillan and there is a lack of documentation about the invention. One of the interesting pieces of evidence is a traffic ticket, the first ever written against a cyclist. As the story goes,   "a gentleman from Dumfries-shire... bestride a velocipede... of ingenious design knocked over a pedestrian in the Gorbals and was fined five British shillings.” That gentleman has always been thought to be Mr Macmillan although historians are now questioning whether a blacksmith would have been described as a gentleman in the newspaper account of that event. For those that want to celebrate Kirkpatrick Macmillan as the bikes inventor there is nothing to stop them. To help them out there is even a festival held in his honour at Drumlamrig Castle near Dumfries in Scotland.

If you fancy yourself as an inventor then here is your opportunity to go down in history with Kirkpatrick and being Scottish isn’t necessary. The “Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Contest” has kicked off. Sponsored by the Specialized Bicycle Company with support from Google Inc the contest challenges participants to create a pedal powered solution for offsetting climate change. Information about entering can be found at www.innovate-or-die.com. Eligible entrants will be invited to post videos on the You Tube website that document and detail their pedal powered solutions. If only poor old Mr Macmillan had access to the internet he might have been able to document his invention.  Prizes include $5000 cash and Specialized Globe bicycles to the top entries. The contest closes on December 15th, 2007 with winners announced on January 15, 2008.

“We believe in the power of the bicycle,” is what Specialized’s Founder and President Mike Sinyard had to say about the contest.  “We believe that the bicycle can be a self-powered solution for reversing global warming, improving the enviroment and making the world a better place for future generations.” In order to do his part in the fight against global warming, Sinyard, along with Specialized employees rode the 600 miles from their office in Morgan Hill, California to the Interbike tradeshow in LasVegas last month.

Dan Reicher, director of climate change and Energy Initiatives for Google.org says that “We need new ideas and a new generation thinking about the issues surrounding climate change and possible solutions. This contest will encourage young people to think about their impact on the enviroment and to take a different approach. I look forward to seeing how people from around the world put their pedals to work.”

I have a little collection of pedal powered equipment that includes a blender that makes some incredible smoothies. I have used it at the Sapperton Street Festival in the past and I can’t say if it helped global warming but it sure helps you work up a thirst to enjoy that smoothie. Some other pedal powered devices I have are from the time before electricity I think. There is a pedal powered grinding stone and a treddle powered jig saw. Maybe I’ll get them buffed up and enter the contest. What will your invention be? A peddle powered water pump, lawn mower or skytram system maybe? Whatever you come up with, it just shows the possibilities when you keep those pedals turning.