A cyclist of Brutinel’s Brigade, at Rockliffe (Ottawa) on the occasion of the Governor General’s inspection

Since the Boer War, cyclists worked with cavalry units to carry out duties requiring troops to dismount. “The act of dismounting deprived a cavalry unit of the services of the men detailed to care for the horses…A cyclist unit, however, did not have to worry about its mounts running off on their own accord or being hit by stray small-arms fire.” Source: Croker, F.P.U. “The Man-Powered Military Vehicle.” The Army Quarterly
and Defence Journal 101, No. 4 (July 1971).