Here's something for fans of a certain pedal-powered form of locomotion - a series of ten radio programmes about the social and cultural history of the bicycle. It started on Monday, so there are currently two programmes available to listen to, but as they're only being made available for a week after broadcast...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yfq82

It also features some notable riders, including (this selection from the first five minutes of Episode 1 alone):

• Edward Elgar (who developed a variety of routes across the Malvern Hills),
• Arthur Conan Doyle (who ensured Sherlock could identify lots of different types of bikes from their tyre treads),
• George Bernard Shaw (who was notorious for crashing!),
• H. G. Wells (who apparently wrote several novels featuring the bicycle) and
• Einstein ("Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance you must keep moving." - he also quipped he developed his theory of Special Relativity while riding...)

So several of our regular writers are in good company - including, strangely enough, the most prolific of the lot :)