From Sea to Shining Sea   

In the heady days prior to 1892 when the high wheel bicycle was the king of the dirt road, ten men crossed America entirely or primarily by this form of transportation. These crossings were not significant in shaping American history for the continent had already been spanned by wagons, the telegraph, and the railroad. It is not surprising that the Chicago Daily News of July 5, 1884 expressed the following view of cyclist Stevens' arrival from San Francisco. "When it takes a bicyclist seventy-two days to wheel from San Francisco to Chicago we are inclined to the opinion that he has more time on his hands than wit in his head. This man's experience does not demonstrate that the bicycle has any advantage over a first-class ox team on such a trip."

Following the completion of Stevens' ride to the Atlantic even the Bicycling World of January 2, 1885 commented, "beyond the slight notoriety he gained and the reported prospect of an account of his trip to appear in book form, his trip possesses no significance whatever, although it developed the suspected fact that there are great stretches of country where the cycle must for years to come be at a discount."

While the press was correct in the view that crossing the continent by bicycle was a step backward in terms of transportation technology, the critics failed to appreciate the appeal of such a journey to some riders and to a large segment of the newspaper reading public. For adventuresome riders this was an opportunity to test their hardiness and endurance, to break the routine of rather ordinary lives, and to gain some fame and possible material benefit.

Many newspapers were ready to capitalize on reports of these rides where the rider/correspondent was the story, as had been the case in Stanley's search of Livingstone in the 1870s and as would be the case with Nellie Bly's world tour in the 1890s. These stories sold papers and books to a public that enjoyed tales describing the actions and accomplishments of daring individuals in an age of industrialization that was subordinating the individual to the organization.

There was considerable variation in the coverage accorded the ten high wheel riders. Some men such as a Mr. Gray were almost unknown even in their day and only the "Lindbergh" of transcontinental cycling, Thomas Stevens, is remembered in modern wheelmen circles. There has been little attention given to other cyclists, in part, because the folk hero status accorded Stevens has overshadowed others. Another factor that has skewed our understanding of the past is that American cycling periodicals from 1880-1892 are difficult to access.

Sufficient information has been obtained, however, to provide the following brief descriptions of the ten high wheel riders and their journeys from sea to shining sea.  Click on a name below to display a detailed narrative.

Click on a name to display a detailed narrative