Wednesday, May 15, 2019

This Day - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

May 16th, is the anniversary of the start of Wyman's historic journey "Across America on a Motor Bicycle."  To celebrate and commemorate Wyman's hard riding adventure, the Project is publishing the daily account of his journey..one day at a time!

We have sliced 50 days, 5 articles and 26,000 words of Wyman's ride report into just a couple of paragraphs covering each day of his epic journey.  Starting May 16, and for everyday until July 6, our 'What's New' section will feature Wyman's description of his ride that day in 1903.  Follow along, as Wyman reports the thrills, spills and challenges of his epic ride, one day at a time.

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Wyman was inspired to make his 1903 epic ride by an experience he had the previous summer.  Sometime in 1902, after his return from a bicycle tour of Australia, Wyman acquired a motor bicycle from the California Motor Company.  That July he rode it over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Reno to attend the "Fifty Mile Bicycle Race," becoming the first person to cross the formidable Sierra Nevada's by motorized vehicle.  It was on the ride back to San Francisco that Wyman got the idea to attempt the transcontinental motorcycle ride.

"During the previous summer I had made the journey on a California motor bicycle to Reno, Nevada, and knew that crossing the Sierras, even when helped by a motor, was not exactly a path of roses. But it was that tour, nevertheless, that fired me with desire to attempt this longer journey - to become the first motorcyclist to ride from ocean to ocean."  George A. Wyman, June 1903

The Story Behind the Headlines?
California Motor Company offers bicycle racer George Wyman $500 prize money to ride their motor-bicycle from San Francisco to New York City.  The Goodman Company gets exclusive rights to publish the story and helps with the trip expenses.


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