U l t i m a t e
T e s t
o f
METAL & METTLE Race Across America is the epitome of transcontinental cycling
It was eight o’clock on April 22, 1884, when Thomas Stevens started off on his “Penny Farthing” bike to travel across America. Along the way, on the old California Trail across the plains and the mountains, his big front-wheeled bicycle would astonish strangers who had never seen such a mechanical contraption. One hundred and three days later, on August 4, 1884, after following wagon trails, railways, canal towpaths, and public roads, Stevens arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the first person to accomplish a transcontinental bike ride. The 3,700-mile trip was, according to Harper’s Magazine, interrupted by 20 days of stoppage for wet weather. Stevens would go on to bike around the world on his “Penny Farthing” high-wheeler, another first, ending in Yokohama, Japan, 13,500 miles later on December 17, 1886. He shared his stories of the people he met and the adventures he experienced with local bicycle clubs, and in letters with Harper’s and in a book Around the World on Bicycle. He became known as the “Jules Verne of bicycling” for exploring the marvels of the world. Since 1817, when Baron Karl von Drais invented the first two-wheeled vehicle, cycling had become a craze among wealthy and competitive-minded men. Englishman James Moore, riding a wooden bicycle with solid rubber tires would win the first bicycle (a term created by the French) race of 1,200 meters in Parc de Saint Cloud, Paris, on May 31, 1868. And from then on, bicycle clubs grew and flourished worldwide, establishing 100-mile century rides in timed trials. In 1890, the safety bicycle—the look we enjoy today—changed the nature of bike racing as well as leisurely fun.
By Ellen Moyer 108
What’s Up? Annapolis | June 2022 | whatsupmag.com
In 1896, bicycling competition became a summer Olympic sport. In America, Marshall “Major” Taylor was setting seven world records in 1898 and 1899. Turning profes-
