Since the BICYCLE was developed in the early 19th century in Europe, people around the world have been cycling. Most people use bicycles for recreation, but in countries such as China, cycling is an important form of transportation, while competitive cycling is an elite sport.

Cycling for recreation is very popular in Europe, and growing rapidly in the United States. Anyone with a bicycle can go for a ride, but many regions have bicycle clubs that organize weekly rides. Longer tours can range from popular vacation sites to weeklong, cross-state rides. Both racing bicycles and mountain bikes--sturdy fat-tired bicycles for riding on rugged mountain trails--are used for recreational rides.

Competitive cycling began in Europe in 1868, with a race at the Parc de St. Cloud, France. By the 1890s recreational cycling was a fad in the United States. In August 1893, Chicago hosted the inaugural world championships, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body for all amateur and professional events. Two years later, professional racing on banked board tracks was added to the world championships. The 1920s saw the peak of the six-day race, in which two-man teams from around the world competed in 144 hours of nonstop racing, with one rider resting or eating while the other raced. After World War II, European road races and riders began to dominate competitive cycling. Despite a resurgence of competitive cycling in the United States, the professional circuit is still dominated by Europeans. Fast-paced racing on outdoor tracks thrives in Japan.