(Source: emilyafricaa)
An apprentice monk makes his way up the 1840 steps, bordered with frangipane trees, leading to Mihintale, where the story of Sri Lankan Buddhism began.
(via meditationtemptation)
It’s ANZAC day.
While neither of the two gentleman in this picture are from Australia or New Zealand (they’re Italian), this blog got me thinking about how bikes have been used in wars in the past. So, obviously, I went to Wikipedia to find out.
Seems the first use of bicycles was sometime in the 1880’s by the British, French and American armies, taking the place of dragoons (mounted infantry) in order to save on horses. Messengers and scouts were also heavily reliant on bicycles in order to save horses, fuel and vehicular maintenance. Bit different to messengers today then!
1st Lieutenant Moss from the US Forces tested a variety of different models over 800-1600km to determine the most suitable for long range use, eventually being used in the late 19th century to transport troops across miles of roadless landscapes at a much higher speed than was possible on foot. Guessing they had big tyres!!
So the bicycle has been used for a whole lot of different applications for about 130 years, and you can read all about it here, because for me to go into it would take quite some time.
I just wish I could find a picture of one of the tandem bikes fixed to railway lines that were used to patrol them……. feel free to send me one if you find it!
Enjoy the day off, go for a ride, and be grateful you have the freedom to do so. I’ll be riding the Lilydale - Warburton Rail Trail on my fixed gear, gimme a shout if you see me!
