"Cyclotourism has recently risen to prominence with growing national media coverage and thousands of participants taking to America's roadways on two wheels and under their own pedal power. But the concept is not new. More than a century ago, George B. Thayer took his own first 'century, ' or one-hundred-mile bicycle ride. [This book] brings to life the experience of late nineteenth-century cycling through the heartfelt story of this important cycling pioneer. In 1886, just two years after his first century, Thayer rode his high wheeler across the United States, traveling from his home in Connecticut to California and back. Thayer took an indirect route without any intent to set speed records, but his trip was full of adventure nonetheless ... With aplomb and humor, he dealt with the countless other hazards he encountered, including dogs, mule teams, and wild hogs ... After his epic tour across the United States, Thayer had the urge to cycle abroad and eventually toured England, Germany, Belgium, and Canada on his bike ... In addition to telling Thayer's cycling story, Kevin J. Hayes brings to life the culture of cycling and its rise at the end of the nineteenth century, when bikes became more affordable and the nation's riding craze took off"--Publisher's description.

Cyclotourism has recently risen to prominence with growing national media coverage and thousands of participants taking to America’s roadways on two wheels and under their own pedal power. But the concept is not new. More than a century ago, George B. Thayer took his own first “century,” or one-hundred-mile bicycle ride. The Two-Wheeled World of George B. Thayer brings to life the experience of late nineteenth-century cycling through the heartfelt story of this important cycling pioneer. In 1886, just two years after his first century, Thayer rode his high wheeler across the United States, traveling from his home in Connecticut to California and back. Thayer took an indirect route without any intent to set speed records, but his trip was full of adventure nonetheless. Thayer loved going downhill, his legs over the handlebars, risking life and limb atop the large wheel on often rough and muddy roads. With aplomb and humor, he dealt with the countless other hazards he encountered, including dogs, mule teams, and wild hogs. Even bad weather and poor sleeping conditions could not keep Thayer down. After his epic tour across the United States, Thayer had the urge to cycle abroad and eventually toured England, Germany, Belgium, and Canada on his bike. His later travels were in part aided by his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut, which was the epicenter of American bicycle manufacturing in the late 1890s. In addition to telling Thayer’s cycling story, Kevin J. Hayes brings to life the culture of cycling and its rise at the end of the nineteenth century, when bikes became more affordable and the nation’s riding craze took off.

"For several decades following the end of the Civil War, the most popular sport in the United States was walking. Professional pedestrians often covered 500 miles or more for up to six grueling days and nights in pursuit of large money prizes in competitions held in big-city arenas. Walking was also a favorite amateur sport; newspapers often noted a "pedestrian mania" or "walking fever" that only began to give way in the mid-1880s to fast-rising crazes for baseball, bicycling, and roller-skating. As competitive walking faded, however, another kind of walking that had also begun in the late 1860s came to full flower. Between 1890 and 1930, hundreds of men, women, even children and entire families were on the nation's roads and railroad tracks trekking between widely separated points-frequently New York and San Francisco-and sometimes moving in unusual ways, such as on roller-skates or by walking barefooted, backwards, on stilts, or while rolling a hoop. To finance their attention-seeking journeys, many sold souvenir postcards. Although they claimed various reasons for making these treks, for most the treks clearly were a means of personal expression. The public usually found these performers entertaining, but public officials and newspaper editors often denounced them as nuisances or frauds. Tapping vintage postcards and old newspaper articles, this is the first book to bring back to view this once-familiar feature of American life. Following a prologue providing background and context, five chapters address different aspects of this trekking phenomenon. In 106 illustrations and seventy-six vignettes-some poignant, many amusing, all engaging-the book provides a fair representation of the many trekkers who moved across the country during those years. An epilogue offers some final musings about those trekking performers and their place in the annals of American popular culture"--