The excitement they caused didn't stop there, however, in 1914, the bike manufacturing giant, Peugeot, entered the recumbent marketplace.

Then during the early part of this century, Frenchman Charles Mochetmade the rounds with a recumbent that literally rewrote all the known cycling record books. When one of his riders, a second-rate racer named Francais Faure, set a new world record for the hour on one on July 7, 1933, covering 45.056 kilometers the United Cyclists Internationale (UCI), eight months later banned the recumbent bicycle from any of the races it sanctioned.

The UCI decision spelled death for the recumbent bicycle for the next 5 decades. It wasn't until 1979 when Dick Ryan, of the present day Ryan Recumbent, teamed up with a handful of others to manufacture the first recumbent of the modern day area, the Avatar (a LWB, USS), that people even knew such a two wheel option existed. Then when E.I. Dupont, the chemical giant, offered $15,000 to the first human powered single rider machine that could top 65 miles per hour, a new era in bicycling had been reborn. This was so because when the engineers went to work, it was the recumbent design, which is 25 to 33% more aerodynamically efficient than a conventional upright bicycle, that satisfied their equations for a two wheeler that could produce such speed.

Soon, in 1986, a recumbent bicycle ridden by Fast Freddy Markham captured the Dupont prize and it was his victory that gave a shot of adrenaline to the fledgling industry that Ryan had helped to revitalize. Since then, scores of manufacturers and a myriad of different laid back machines have sprouted up all over the world. In 1990 Recumbent Cyclist News then, with great success, began helping these builders merchandise their wares to a very receptive public. Here now in 1998, it is the world wide web that has catapulted the recumbent bicycle to an even higher level of popularity and excitement.

And the renewed interest these bikes are enjoying is far more than just about speed. Besides the fact that recumbents also hold the one hour and 4000 meter pursuit records along with many other speed successes, comfort was rediscovered as an interesting by-product of the engineer's quest for speed. With the recumbent, people are discovering that their bicycle does not have to cause them pain.

Not at all. in fact, they can be ridden for hours and miles without ailments such as the sore butt, stiff neck, aching shoulders or numb hands that afflict the conventional bicycle rider. Instead the recumbent rider experiences far greater comfort, a better view of the world, a toning and strengthening of the abdomen. even a better sun tanning position.

And no, they are not dangerous. In fact the lower center of gravity and greater proximity to the ground mean that if you should crash on one, your feet will absorb most of the shock instead of your head. Because more of your weight is over the rear wheel, recumbents also stop faster. Cars see you better, too, because the biggest part of your body is in the car driver's field of vision and you do not blend in with or conventional bicyclists.