Bicycle infantry

The development of pneumatic tires coupled with shorter, sturdier frames during the late 19th century led to the investigation of possible military uses for bicycles.

Essentially this reflected the popularity of cycling amongst the civilian population and the perceived value of bicycles in providing increased mobility for home defence units.

In the years prior to World War I the availability of an extensive network of paved or gravel roads in western Europe made military cyclists appear a feasible alternative to horse-mounted troops; on the grounds of economy, simplicity of training, relative silence when on the move and ease of logistical support.

The Dutch and Belgian armies, with extensive flat terrain within their national boundaries, maintained battalion or company sized units of cyclists.

The Imperial Russian Gendarmerie used bicycles with outrigger wheels, to mount patrols along the Siberian Railway before and during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.

Using a variety of cycle models, Moss and his troops, accompanied by an assistant surgeon, carried out extensive bicycle journeys covering between 800 and 1,900 miles (1287 to 3058 km).

In 1896, Moss' Buffalo Soldiers stationed in Montana rode bicycles across roadless landscapes for hundreds of miles at high speed.

Early in World War II their southern campaign through Malaya en route to capturing Singapore in 1941 was largely dependent on bicycle-riding soldiers.

Bicycles also made few demands on the Japanese war machine, needing neither trucks nor ships to transport them, nor precious petroleum.

The term "bomber bikes" came into use during this period, as US forces dropped bicycles out of planes to reach troops behind enemy lines.

In the past few decades, however, they have taken on a new life as a "weapon of the people" in guerrilla conflicts and unconventional warfare, where the cycle's ability to carry large, about 400 lb (180 kg), loads of supplies at the speed of a pedestrian make it useful for lightly equipped forces.

For many years the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army used bicycles to ferry supplies down the "Ho Chi Minh trail", avoiding the repeated attacks of United States and Allied bombing raids.

With especially bulky cargo, tenders sometimes attached bamboo poles to the bike for tiller-like steering (this method can still be seen practiced in China today).

[12] American Paratroopers have jumped folding mountain bikes in several Airborne operations [13] The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam made use of bicycle mobility during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

[citation needed] During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, electric bicycles were used by Ukrainian forces to carry NLAW anti-tank missiles.