Does the museum cover all kinds of bikes? Yes, and from the very beginning. When you enter the museum, you’ll be greeted by an 1868 Michaux velocipede. This wood and- iron beast, part of the Igler Collection, is from the very first commercial builder. This was at a time when the fact that a human could balance on two wheels was a novel concept. Soon a dash to perfect the machine was on, by some of the sharpest engineering minds of the day. That led to a bicycle golden age that raged through the 1890s. Washington, D.C., had two patent offices, one for bicycles and on for everything else.