rustystrings61 

Very gently here - but there has ALWAYS been a nexus between bicycles and arms. Reynolds HM and 531 grew out of steels developed for military aviation; Royal Enfield had ties to the British Enfield arsenal; B.S.A., Chater Lea’s great rival in track racing parts and maker of the DP fixed/free gear hub, literally stands for Birmingham Small Arms.

Then there are the experiments- soldiers trained to be mounted rifles, awheel rather than horseback; pre-WWI photos of trikes and tandems fitted with early machine guns and light artillery; and the use of bicycles as mules in the long war in Vietnam, including the encirclement of the French at Dien Bien Phu.

The history of the bicycle is like so much else in human history - it can encompass the best and the worst of human nature and human experience.

I would not dream of advocating turning this into a political forum, save for this - knee jerk censorship (and I am NOT accusing anyone HERE of doing that!) and insisting that every statement must pass a litmus test that denies that there can be legitimate differences in opinion, values and experience, coupled with the pants-wetting fear of litigation and the over-expansive definition of safety to include defining opinions we don’t like as assault - that pretty much kills the spirit of free inquiry.

And now I think I’ll go have a lovely ride, and be grateful for a sunny if cool afternoon.