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June 4, 2012 |
Pedal power
For well over a hundred years, people have hopped on bicycles for transportation, recreation, competition, and more. In many parts of the world, spinning pedals moves goods and generates electricity. While usually attached to two wheels, pedal power takes many forms, adapting to a wide range of needs. Globally, over 100 million bicycles are produced every year - over 60% of them in China - easily doubling world production of automobiles. Efficient, clean, and cheap, pedal power in all its forms can solve modern problems with basic technology, and offers a health benefit to those cranking away. And it's hard to beat the simple joy of riding a bike. Gathered here are images of people around the world as we pedal for a reason, or just because. -- Lane Turner (49 photos total)

Congolese boys push a Chikudu (wooden bicycle) as they transport goods to the market of Mushaki, Democratic Republic of Congo on December 4, 2011. Chikudus are as much a source of local pride as they are a part of the local economy. Formal jobs are rare here, and crafting chikudus is a skilled and prestigious occupation. Chikudus are the brainchild of desperate improvisation. Before they overtook the dusty foot paths and rocky roads of eastern Congo, men carried produce to market in wheelbarrows. No one is certain when chikudus were invented, or by whom, but locals agree they appeared after independence from colonial Belgium in 1960. By then bicycles and motorcycles had reached Congo, and chikudu makers tried to replicate their functionality. (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images) #

Students practice sight-reading while riding exercise bikes in the Conestoga Elementary school in Gillette, Wyo. on November 22, 2011. Students are free to take a turn doing their assignments on one of the six stationary bikes in the back of the room. (Reiley Wooten/Gillette News Record/Associated Press) #

Double amputee private Steve Richardson demonstrates his adapted bike as members of the Help For Heroes team of wounded service personnel who will compete in the Race Across America this June is announced at Tedworth House on April 20, 2012 in Tidworth, England. The team will cycle 3051 miles across 12 states and cover a distance which is 30 percent longer than the Tour de France, but complete it in roughly half the time. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)#

100-year-old cyclist Robert Marchand of France gets on his bike to set a world record for cycling non-stop for one hour at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) velodrome in Aigle, Switzerland on February 17, 2012. Marchand, born November 26, 1911, cycled 24.251 km (15 miles) around the 200 meter indoor track to set the record. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)#