THIS week is national Bike Week and, in recent months, the humble bicycle has been in the local, national and international news quite a bit.

This week, on June 18, the National Cycle Route was officially opened at Eastrop Park, in Basingstoke, to link up with other parts of the country. Starting from Basingstoke railway station, it eventually joins the cycle route linking Bristol with Reading.

Of a more international vein, this year has seen the 100th anniversary of the French cycle race, the Tour de France. Begun in 1903 it has been run nearly every year with the exception of the two world wars. It was run through Basingstoke in July 1994, when 184 of the world’s best cyclists sped past crowds in the town centre on their way along their gruelling 113-mile route.

The bicycle has come a long way since its first creation in 1790 when the “hobby-horse” was invented. This was a contraption with two wheels and a frame similar to the present bicycle but without pedals or chain. The rider had to “walk” the device with his feet, and, sitting on a type of a seat, a certain speed could be attained, especially going down hill!

The present form of bicycle was thought of by a blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, of Courthill in Dumfries, who constructed a 57lb vehicle with a curved wooden frame, the front of which was carved with a horse’s head.

It had iron-tyred wheels, with pedals connected by cranks to the rear wheel, and driven by a forward and backward motion of the feet. He built it purely for his own use to travel to various places, including a 40-mile ride from Courthill to Glasgow in 1842. This latter ride ended up with him knocking over a child in Glasgow, where crowds had gathered to see this strange invention, and he was later fined five shillings (now 25p) for dangerous driving, at Gorbals Police Court.

It was Pierre Michaux, a French coachbuilder, who began to produce the present form of bicycle in large quantities when he converted the old hobby-horse into a pedal-driven velocipede in 1861. Within a year he had sold 142 of them. Some were imported and, in 1869, the first models came to England, where a Mr C Spencer sold them for about £12 each.

From then on, the bicycle became a popular form of transport on the roads, until the motor car arrived at the turn of the century and began to drive them off the highway. We now have a situation where the cyclist is scared to get on the road in case a motor vehicle runs into him, and if he gets onto the pavement, he could knock down a pedestrian and be fined £22 for dangerous driving!

In Basingstoke, the arrival of the bicycle, through advertisements in the local newspaper and displays in shop windows, brought about the formation of the local cycling club in 1892. Various events were arranged, including touring and racing activities, and some members found the action was creating wear and tear on their bikes. Thus the first cycle repair shops began to appear in the town.

One of the most popular tradesmen was Charles Everett, who opened his business at 35 Church Street in 1910, then later moved to a photographic studio in Potters Lane. He thought of an idea to hang the bikes that needed repairing on meat hooks suspended from the ceiling. He continued to carry out his work in this way up until the time when he had to close, due to the Town Development Scheme, in 1966.

Over the years, the bicycle has been remodelled into tandems, those with child seats and other devices. But in 1960, the local folk saw another use for the two-wheeled vehicle – sharpening knives.

A middle-aged couple travelled the streets of Basingstoke calling on householders to bring out their knives and other items that needed sharpening. With the ingenuity of a mechanical brain, the man simply turned the bike movements into a grinding machine!

In more recent years, the cycling enthusiasts in Basingstoke have had two bicycle clubs to join in the area. The Basingstoke Cycle Club, formed in 1972, is a road racing club with various social activities included.

It gives people over the age of 12 the opportunity to mingle with other people with similar interests.

The other club, the North Hampshire Road Club, caters for all aspects of cycling, including time trials, road racing, touring and track racing, for those over 12 years.

Information on these clubs is available from local libraries.