From time to time I see a picture of troops moving on bicycles in world war 2.
Since I use the bike (a great vehicle!) and I know that it requires maintenance, especially under harsh conditions, I wondered if the usage of bicycles by some troops was always casual or planned.
For planned I mean: some (even just a couple) military units (a platoon, a regiment, an entire division, etc.) planned to use bicycles as transportation vehicle in some moment of the war, including the maintenance of those and so on and so forth. As they would integrate a truck as transport vehicle.
I made up an example: for the French campaign in 1940 the Germans decided to use bicycles wherever trucks or trains were scarce thanks to the good state of French roads. So division X and Y started to organize themselves to use bicycles.
Another example (made up): in UK the divisions responsible for the AA and coastal guard used also bicycles as means of transportation, integrating them in the units supply and maintenance chain.
Then I thought that maybe bicycles could have been used in whatever major war before 1945, not only in ww2. Dunno, maybe in the conflict between Poland and Russia in 1920 or in ww1. Hence the question.
Bicycle infantry units begin to appear in European armies at the end of the 19th century. They were used in the 2nd Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War, mostly as messenger and patrol vehicles. All combatants in WWI had bicycle units that served again primarily in scouting and messenger capacities. The Japanese used bicycles in great numbers during their invasion of China in 1937 and in their march through Malaya towards Singapore in 1942 most of their infantry units moved on bicycles. When dismounted and pushed by the soldier bikes could transport supplies in areas where roads were limited. Jim Fitzpatrick's, The Bicycle in Wartime: An Illustrated History is a good source.