a bit about soldiers and bikes in the 1970's

from a fascinating recent memoir , this bit is about Cyprus:

The Warrant Officer also told Mac that the Danes caused a bit of a
sensation when they arrived. It was six o'clock in the morning when
the Danes came into their sector to relieve the RAF Regiment, who had
worked around the clock and kept the peace for four weeks and four
days. The Danes were on bicycles with huge packs on their backs and
rifles, plus machine guns at the ready over the handlebars.
Apparently, when asked by a curious RAF Regiment Sergeant how far they
had come, the Dane nonchalantly replied, "Only Dhekhelia." This was a
distance of sixty miles.

When Mac heard this, he made sure each SOG team spent one cross-
training day with the Danes, as part of their development. One never
knew if one day, somewhere, the British might have to defeat Danish
trained terrorists, like some in the Congo years before. The men hated
it; all the patrolling was done on bicycles, and in full kit. The
Danish Commander assured Mac that this 'Crazy' image made the locals
behave themselves, because they didn't want to fall foul of these
madmen on bikes. Mac wasn't sure if he was right, but who knows?

http://www.sirstoplaughing.com/Cypru..._Campaign.html

Can be downloaded (or book from from amazon)