Mr. Henry Adams is soon to become the proud owner of a velocipede — an early type of human-powered vehicle. The term "velocipede" came to describe various early bicycles, especially in England by 1831. However, the original version was known as the "draisine," invented in 1817 by Karl Drais. Also called the "Laufmaschine" (running machine) or "dandy horse," it was the first practical, two-wheeled, steerable, human-propelled vehicle — a direct precursor to the modern bicycle.

The draisine was created in response to a shortage of horses caused by the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars (which ended in 1815) and the global climate anomaly known as the "Year Without a Summer" in 1816. Mr. Adams’s model is an exact replica of Drais’s original design.