The Lost Cyclist
Title | The Lost Cyclist PDF eBook |
Author | David V. Herlihy |
Publisher | HMH |
Pages | 373 |
Release | 2010-06-18 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 0547487177 |
This “fascinating” story of a nineteenth-century mystery “should appeal to most lovers of history, as well as to bicycling enthusiasts. Strongly recommended” (Library Journal). In the late 1880s, Frank Lenz of Pittsburgh, a renowned high-wheel racer and long-distance tourist, dreamed of cycling around the world. He finally got his chance by recasting himself as a champion of the downsized “safety-bicycle” with inflatable tires, the forerunner of the modern road bike that was about to become wildly popular. In the spring of 1892 he quit his accounting job and gamely set out west to cover twenty thousand miles over three continents as a correspondent for Outing magazine. Two years later, after having survived countless near disasters and unimaginable hardships, he approached Europe for the final leg. Lenz never made it. His mysterious disappearance in eastern Turkey sparked an international outcry and compelled Outing to send William Sachtleben, another larger-than-life cyclist, on Lenz’s trail. Bringing to light a wealth of information, David Herlihy’s gripping narrative captures the soaring joys and constant dangers accompanying the bicycle adventurer in the days before paved roads and automobiles. This untold story culminates with Sachtleben’s heroic effort to bring Lenz’s accused murderers to justice, even as troubled Turkey teetered on the edge of collapse.
The Lost Cyclist
Title | The Lost Cyclist PDF eBook |
Author | David V. Herlihy |
Publisher | Mainstream Publishing Company |
Pages | 240 |
Release | 2011 |
Genre | Bicycle touring |
ISBN | 9781845967178 |
In the spring of 1892, Frank G. Lenz, a gallant young accountant from a modest German American family, set forth from his unhappy home in Pittsburgh to circle the globe atop a new 'safety' bicycle with inflatable tyres (the forerunner of today's road bike). He brought along a large wooden camera and arranged to send regular reports to his sponsor, Outing magazine, effectively making him a harbinger of the great bicycle boom that was about to explode with stunning social and industrial repercussions. Two years, fourteen thousand miles and many adventures later, after crossing the United States, Japan, China, Burma, India and Persia, just as he was about to enter Europe for the home stretch, Lenz vanished. His presumed murder in Asiatic Turkey jolted the American public and became an international cause c l bre. The Lost Cyclist recounts, for the first time ever, the short but remarkable life of Lenz and the heroic efforts of another American 'globe girdler', William L. Sachtleben, who was sent by Outing to unravel Lenz's mysterious death in Turkey u all set against the horrifying backdrop of the Hamidian massacres.
The Self-Propelled Voyager
Title | The Self-Propelled Voyager PDF eBook |
Author | Duncan R. Jamieson |
Publisher | Rowman & Littlefield |
Pages | 233 |
Release | 2015-09-03 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 1442253711 |
Before the last quarter of the nineteenth century, people who wanted to travel independently either walked or rode horses. Then a newly invented machine changed forever the nature of personal transportation. The cycle—self-propelled bicycles, tricycles, and tandems—allowed almost anyone to travel around town, around their region, and around the world. While dramatic developments in equipment, clothing, road surfaces, and amenities make the physicality of cycling much different from the earlier era, the experience of cycling has seen little change. The Self-Propelled Voyager: How the Cycle Revolutionized Travel recounts how a transportation innovation opened the world for not only those who made the journey but also for the armchair travelers who read with interest the cyclists’ accounts of faraway places. Following a brief history of the development of the cycle, this book describes the exploits of long-distance riders who wrote of their experiences, their triumphs, and their tragedies. Duncan R. Jamieson chronicles their journeys, their personal stories, and the times in which they lived, revealing that, despite the continuing rise and fall of cycling interest, people continue to enjoy traveling in the slow lane. Drawing on books and articles by the women and men who rode and wrote of their travels, The Self-Propelled Voyager also features photographs from the 1880s up to the modern day, illustrating the development of the cycle through history. Accessibly written yet comprehensive in its coverage, this book will interest not only the cycling enthusiast but historians focusing on sport and sport tourism as well.
Black Cyclists
Title | Black Cyclists PDF eBook |
Author | Robert J. Turpin |
Publisher | University of Illinois Press |
Pages | 330 |
Release | 2024-04-09 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 0252056612 |
Cycling emerged as a sport in the late 1870s, and from the beginning, Black Americans rode alongside and raced against white competitors. Robert J. Turpin sheds light on the contributions of Black cyclists from the sport’s early days through the cementing of Jim Crow laws during the Progressive Era. As Turpin shows, Black cyclists used the bicycle not only as a vehicle but as a means of social mobility--a mobility that attracted white ire. Prominent Black cyclists like Marshall “Major” Taylor and Kitty Knox fought for equality amidst racist and increasingly pervasive restrictions. But Turpin also tells the stories of lesser-known athletes like Melvin Dove, whose actions spoke volumes about his opposition to the color line, and Hardy Jackson, a skilled racer forced to turn to stunt riding in vaudeville after Taylor became the only non-white permitted to race professionally in the United States. Eye-opening and long overdue, Black Cyclists uses race, technology, and mobility to explore a forgotten chapter in cycling history.
It's All About the Bike
Title | It's All About the Bike PDF eBook |
Author | Robert Penn |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing USA |
Pages | 209 |
Release | 2011-04-26 |
Genre | Sports & Recreation |
ISBN | 1608195767 |
Robert Penn has saddled up nearly every day of his adult life. In his late twenties, he pedaled 25,000 miles around the world. Today he rides to get to work, sometimes for work, to bathe in air and sunshine, to travel, to go shopping, to stay sane, and to skip bath time with his kids. He's no Sunday pedal pusher. So when the time came for a new bike, he decided to pull out all the stops. He would build his dream bike, the bike he would ride for the rest of his life; a customized machine that reflects the joy of cycling. It's All About the Bike follows Penn's journey, but this book is more than the story of his hunt for two-wheel perfection. En route, Penn brilliantly explores the culture, science, and history of the bicycle. From artisanal frame shops in the United Kingdom to California, where he finds the perfect wheels, via Portland, Milan, and points in between, his trek follows the serpentine path of our love affair with cycling. It explains why we ride. It's All About the Bike is, like Penn's dream bike, a tale greater than the sum of its parts. An enthusiastic and charming tour guide, Penn uses each component of the bike as a starting point for illuminating excursions into the rich history of cycling. Just like a long ride on a lovely day, It's All About the Bike is pure joy- enriching, exhilarating, and unforgettable.
Routledge Companion to Cycling
Title | Routledge Companion to Cycling PDF eBook |
Author | Glen Norcliffe |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 802 |
Release | 2022-12-14 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1000575403 |
Routledge Companion to Cycling presents a comprehensive overview of an artefact that throughout the modern era has been a bellwether indicator of the major social, economic and environmental trends that have permeated society The volume synthesizes a rapidly growing body of research on the bicycle, its past and present uses, its technological evolution, its use in diverse geographical settings, its aesthetics and its deployment in art and literature. From its origins in early modern carriage technology in Germany, it has generated what is now a vast, multi-disciplinary literature encompassing a wide range of issues in countries throughout the world.
The Valley's Secret
Title | The Valley's Secret PDF eBook |
Author | JJ Somers |
Publisher | Austin Macauley Publishers |
Pages | 190 |
Release | 2024-05-24 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 1035856913 |
In the remote Australian High Country, a serial killer thought dormant for over thirty years is suddenly exposed when a freak biking accident reveals his dumping ground: a densely wooded valley holding a graveyard of bones. The injured cyclist fights for survival, using all his wits and stamina to escape the valley’s overgrown trails back to civilization. Little does he know his traumatic discovery will reopen decades-old murder cases that have long gone cold. In this gripping thriller, the killer’s deep pathological need for validation and pleasure has driven him to strike again and again since 1982. But advancements in forensic science and his own carelessness will finally bring his buried secrets to light. As detectives race to stop another killing spree, they uncover the shocking truth about the sadistic murderer who has been hiding in plain sight. Tense and propulsive, The Valley’s Secret will plunge you into the darkness of this serial killer’s double life and the relentless pursuit to unmask him before more innocent lives are taken.