The ECR Road has now become symbolic with road bikes, time trials, training sessions, road races and importantly being host to all these activities around the year, my memories of this road dates back to late 1970's when on weekends my mother would take me on visit to this place where my grand parents resided, the local bus (PTC) painted mostly in red and cream would bring us to the last point Tiruvanmiyur Temple Tank bus stand from Adyar ticket costing around 20 paisa, walking towards Clock Tower where the present day buses to Puducherry stop one could see a row of Jatka (Horse Carriage) for hire, to me travelling in them was always memorable, I always made it a point to sit in front so that I get some best view of the running horse especially the sound emitting from its hooves or be it the excellent view of single lane road, the visible sea shore, those ponds with Dhobi's busy at work, the occasional cluster of casurina trees and farming activities on the other side of the road before reaching our destination, remembering those wonderful days and feeling disgusted that not even an iota of them now remains lets move forward, unlike other bicycles for Road Bicycle, Racing Cycle alias Road Bike the components played a vital role in its history, even though we find the first recorded history of bicycle race dating to 1868 the winner riding a wooden bike and bicycle racing was added during the first Olympic Games in Athens (1896) or the long distance races from city to city like Paris-Brest-Paris and numerous other events gaining popularity by 1900 including the race of all the races TdF (Tour de France) which started in 1903. The year 1937 marks the most important year in the history of these speed machines when "Derailleurs" were permitted for use in major events like TdF though they existed since late 1900's. Campagnolo of Italy contributed to this racing bicycle by producing world class derailleurs like Cambio Corsa (1940), Paris Roubaix, Gran Sport in 1950's and Nuovo Record in late 1960's, few other manufacturers of these components over the period of time included Simplex, Huret, Suntour and Shimono. Lastly mention must also be made of few road bicycle manufacturers having history like Bianchi founded in 1885 possibly the world's oldest existing manufacturer, BH Bicycles (Beistegui Hermanos) and Colnago. Thus I conclude this rhetoric on the brief history of road bicycle having mentioned the salient features which I presume are important, if you can add something more to it you are always welcome. Wishing you all a happy viewing of TdF 2013 over the next few weeks. Till next time ...
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