Cycling is a sport and a means of transportation across land. Cycling can involve a number of different human powered vehicles including bicycles, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. The most popilar means of transportaion in the world is the utily bicylce. In America there are two main types of utility bicycles that are most popular. The first is the road bike and the second is the mountain bike. Bicycles have been in history for a variety of reasons including improving one's health, for warfare, for sport, work and recreation.

Recreation and Health

Many people will use cycling as a means of recreation and as a means of improving their health. It can help people with ailments such as arthritis, which offers a low impact exercise on a person's joints. Health wise cycling is an excellent form of exercize and is great for those looking to get in shape and loose fat. According to experts cycling can add 20 additional years to one's life.

Work

The first major use of a bicycle for working purposes came in 1880 when the British Royal Mail started using bicycles to distribute the mail. In London, England paramedics will sometimes use bikes to get to patients, as they can reach people faster than by an automobile. Today many police forces around the world use bicycles as one means of patrol. Other such jobs, which involve cycling, include courier services and newspaper delivery.

Warfare

Through history bicycles have not been a main source of transportation for an army. However, they have been used as a source for transporting supplies and some soldiers in a few wars. Such wars include the Boer War, World War I and the Vietnam War. Limited use of bicycles was also used during World War II when Japan invaded Malaysia. The last country to disband their bicycle unit was Switzerland in 2003.