My point of departure was vélocipède, but I wanted to check velocity first and got tackeled by Mr. Fowler's phrase and more which I did not read right. Thanks for the explanations.

Velocipede is the classical word for bycicle. Literally meaning (latin} fast foot. In some languages vélocipède (or a corruption of it ) is the usual word for bycicle: Malaysian: Sepeda, Latvian: Velosipēds, Russian Велосипед. The French vélo is an abbrevation of it, just like in Flanders velo is often used.. Even the Dutch fiets is according to some a corruption of vélocipède.

velocipede
I was thinking the bycicle is still the fastest manpowered vehicle, though the invention of the automobile has made it seem slow in comparison.
But then the automobile was never really automobile at all. If it really had been politics and history would have been quite different. Most countries have given the holy cow a different naming. Germany and Holland still call it 'auto' although some use ' Wagen' / wagen-(wagon).