Just Dandy

The other day I was reading a year-end compilation of significant anniversaries, and the author mentioned the invention of the Draisine in 1818. Can't let the year go by with our two-wheeled forerunner unheralded, even though some might argue that it was actually invented in 1817 and only officially patented in February 1818. And some would argue that it's not a bicycle at all, as happened at a bicycle history conference in Boston I attended years ago, with some of the speakers focusing instead on who "invented" the bicycle in the 1860s. Until in the midst of this argument one of the panelists quietly disagreed, saying simply that he had a Draisine, and that when all was said and done, when he rode it he felt like he was riding a bicycle. Not one to scoff at 200-year-old technology, if it's "just like riding a bicycle," that's good enough for me.