The bicycle is my favourite invention. Bikes are amazingly fun to ride and are a great way to tour a city or countryside while simultaneously getting in shape. Plus, they're very eco-friendly.

My current bike was assembled by a middle-aged scruffy guy here in Victoria. She was his favourite bike creation. I named her "Silver" and she has wicked fat tires. She also has a yellow and black bell-creature attached to her handlebars named 'The Navigator', after one of my favourite childhood movies which was about a little boy who navigated space with the aid of his alien sidekick.

The history of bicycles is quite vague. Sources often disagree about inventor's names and the dates of their inventions. In 1490, Leonardo DaVinci sketched a facsimile of the modern bicycle which never left the drawing board.

The first bicycle precurser was invented in 1790 by a Frenchmen named Comte Mede de Sivrac. It had no steering. Later, German Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn created the "Laufmaschine" or "Running Machine". The steerable Laufmaschine was constructed of wood and had no pedals. Instead of pedaling, the rider would push her/his feet against the ground to make the machine go forward. Sauerbronn's bicycle was first exhibited in Paris on April 6, 1818.

In 1871, British engineer James Starley invented the Penny Farthing. It was the first truly efficient bicycle, and had a small rear wheel and large front wheel that pivoted on a simple tubular frame with rubber tires.

Today there are countless different types of bikes that are used for a variety of purposes, from commuting, to touring, to doing tricks off mountainsides. Here in Victoria, a popular mountainbiking location is 'The Dump'. The guys at my bikeshop invited me to join them there, but I am still builing up my nerve and skills.