Bicycle Touring 101: Bicycle Touring History

Sometimes people mistakenly believe that bicycle touring is a new development that really only started back in the 1970's or later. In reality touring has been happening virtually as long as the bicycle has been around.

History is one of the things that I find exciting and interesting. There are many things that can be learned from those who came before us. The Bicycle Museum of America has a web site that is dedicated to displaying bicycles that were sold in North America.

With permission from the Bicycle Museum of America I present the following quote about a touring cyclist back in 1884:

Photo of 1883 Columbia Expert with thanks and permission from Bicycle Museum of America.
Click to enlarge.

Stevens was born in England in 1854. Although his parents were of small means, he managed to achieve a solid education. A nephew described him as having been a ``voracious reader of travel literature, energetic and a realist."

At eighteen, Tom suddenly announced his intention of going to America. When he produced the money he'd squirreled away for his passage, his father said, ``Go! Young as you are, you are well able to take care of yourself." In the United States over the next eleven years, Tom held assorted jobs. In the winter of 1883-84, he was working as a miner in Colorado. America was in the midst of its first bicycle boom, and "wheeling" was the rage. The high-wheel, invented by Englishman James Starley, had been introduced to Americans at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. In just a few years, the contraption bowled along every city's streets.

Before ever having ridden one himself, Stevens determined that he would be the first man to pedal across America and set out to acquire the proper machine. On the morning of April 22, 1884, he rolled his black-enameled Columbia along the Oakland Pier. He sprinted, jumped the mounting step, and hoisted himself onto the hogskin saddle. Gripping the rubber knobs at the ends of the handlebar, he pedaled toward San Pablo.

How he managed to purchase the bike is a mystery. At ninety dollars, it was an expensive item. But Stevens was known for making sacrifices whatever was necessary to attain his goals. The Columbia, with a reputation for durability, was a good choice. Stevens picked the Standard model, one of the most popular bicycles of the day.

On July 16, 1884, Thomas Stevens bicycled eastward across the Indiana-Ohio border. In early August, Tom Stevens would complete the first transcontinental bicycle ride. He would then continue on, circling the globe. Stevens's Standard Columbia bicycle, built by the Pope Manufacturing Company, was a substantial and durable machine made of tubular steel. The Pope Company preserved Stevens's bicycle until a World War II scrap drive took precedence. "

Wooden rims discovered during my Round Lake Erie tour.
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An old bicycle night light also discovered during my Round Lake Erie tour.
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During my Round Lake Erie tour I discovered a car and bicycle museum tucked away in a small shed behind a mini-golf course. It was one of the exciting finds of the tour with my first experience actually seeing and touching old wooden bicycle rims, an old bicycle lantern and of course the older bikes themselves.

Two of the local bike shops in my home city also pay attention to history. One shop has a series of bicycles dating from the late 1800s on. The other shop has a high wheeler prominently displayed both in their store and in their logo.

Neither store or the shed museum I stumbled across on South Bass Island come close to the variety or quality of the historical information including pictures displayed on the Bicycle Museum of America web site. I encourage you to pay them a visit and see if history calls out to you too.