Bikes: The Wheel Story

The ingenious nature of bicycle technology and design, is the subject of a new exhibit that opens on Nov. 20, at the Museum of Industry, Stellarton. Bikes: The Wheel Story on loan from the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. This dynamic exhibit examines the ways people have used this wheeled wonder over the last century and a half.

Bikes: The Wheel Story is a delightful interactive exhibit for all ages. Adults, especially cycling enthusiasts, will enjoy more than 30 bicycles that illustrate the evolution of human-powered transportation.

While bicycles are used all over the world, this exhibit focuses on the history of the cycle in Canada and the manner in which Canadians have employed bicycles in their daily lives.

Visitors will see how wooden velocipedes became the safety bike we know today. Cranking pedals, honking horns and chiming bells are part of the fun. Children will have the opportunity to balancing on a simulated high-wheel bicycle. Adults might even spot the kind of bicycle they pedaled as youngsters or the one used by mail carriers during World War II. Children will delight in constructing a magnetic bike puzzle to beat the clock. Preschoolers will delight in the colouring area.

Toddlers looking for their first bicycle can try out the tricycle obstacle course. Colourful cutouts for back-drops and road safety signs will set the stage for the course, which will help children understand when it is safe to cross the road, the rules for crossing railway tracks, how driveways can be hazardous and how hydro lines should be respected.

Bikes: The Wheel Story runs until March 18, 2002, at the Museum of Industry. The museum is located at 147 North Foord Street, Stellarton. People who would like more information about the exhibit can call 902-755-5425.