When George Wyman crossed the Nevada desert in 1903, on a 1 ¼ horsepower motorcycle, he mostly rode on railroad tracks. It was a bumpy ride, but the sand that surrounded him was too soft too ride his bike
When George Wyman crossed the Nevada desert in 1903, on a 1 ¼ horsepower motorcycle, he mostly rode on railroad tracks. It was a bumpy ride, but the sand that surrounded him was too soft too ride his bike over. Once, there had been wagon tracks here, but often the railroad ties lay right on top of them. This was the shortest and clearest route across the west.
No one had ever traveled across the country in a motorized vehicle, and Wyman intended to be the first. At 26, he was a champion racing cycler and had already circumnavigated Australia on a bike. The summer before, he had become the first person to cross the Sierra Nevadas on a motorcycle. His California Moto Bike was essentially just a bike frame with a motor attached, but as he crossed the mountains, he had an idea. He could ride that bike straight across the country.
Wyman left San Francisco from Lotta’s Fountain on May 16, 1903, with a promise from Motorcycle Magazine to publish an account of his journey. Fifty days later, he rolled into New York City. His bike was so busted that he had to pedal the last 150 miles, but he had made it: he was the first person to motor 