First Bike Ride Around the World

When I tell you someone had bicycled across the world, you may think that's crazy, that could never happen. But in eighteen eighty seven, that's exactly what did happen. Let's find out the story behind it today in Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide back to the history of sports as we go deep every day. In the nineteenth century, the world was a vastly different place. There were no cars, no paved roads, mainly run by horses, and when the bicycle was invented, it changed the course of the world forever, allowing for long distance travel without a horse and with a precursor to the automobile in the motorcycle. The bicycle as we know it today evolved over time, but its origins can be traced back to a thing called the running machine, invented by Carl Drassis, a German baron, in eighteen seventeen. He invented a two wheel vehicle. The rider propelled by pushing their feet on the ground, similar to the new toddler bikes that we have now, which had no pedals, and the toller can push on the ground. As they learned to ride the bike Over the years, the bicycle evolved, adding pedals, drive chains, and bicycles with equal sized wheels. A long history things have been done on the bike as The first bicycle race was in Paris in eighteen sixty eight, the twelve hundred meter race, and the winner was an Englishman named James Monroe. The first long distance ride was a fifty mile ride from San Francisco to Saint Jose with a rider named Thomas Stevens, who completed this on pennyweather By that is the one with a wheel that's big in front and a small wheel and back. The very first Tour de France was in nineteen oh three, won by Maurice garn covering a distance of two thousand, four hundred and twenty eight kilometers. The first woman to ride across America was in eighteen ninety five. Andy Londonderry was a first woman complete her task across America. The first bicycle advocacy group was formed in the United States in eighteen eighty, the League for American Wheelmen, later known as the League of American Bicyclists, fighting for bicycle rights on the road. These achievements came along the way as the bicycle evolved and continues to our story. Today, we go back to a name that we've already heard of, Thomas Stevens, the first man to do a long distance ride on a bicycle. He was and he always had the goal of riding across the globe. He was not your typical adventure born in London in eighteen fifty four, but he had a love for bicycles. In eighteen forty four, he moved to the United States, settling in San Francisco. There he was captivated by the idea of the Global Bike Journey. He had already done the long distance ride. Now he was looking for the perfect bicycle for his ride around the world. He commissioned a custom built Henny Weather bicycle. Again, this is the bicycle with a large wheel in front and the small one in back. Hard to imagine someone making this journey on one of those, especially when you remember there were no paid roads and many places didn't even have roots. April twenty second, eighteen eighty four, Stevens set off on his journey from San Francisco, heading East America, going through deserts, mountains, and the unknown. As we said before, this was not a smooth journey. There were not very many roads. There was extreme weather, encounters with wild animals and unfriendly locals, yet he continued to go. He would not be deterred. He would in general follow the the same parallel across the world. He made his way across the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, also taking the Silk Road into the heart of Asia, all while doing so doing letters in journals. There was no time limit on his journey. When you're the first, you're already going to be the fastest. So he took his time, but never gave up, fixing things along the way on his bike, falling down, getting back up, and showed perseverance to never give up, especially in strange lands that he had never been before and didn't even speak their language. And three years later, in eighteen eighty seven, he finally landed back in San Francisco, having accomplished his goal as being the first person to bicycle around the world, showing incredible personal triumph and will of the human spirit that many bicyclists still have to this day. Now you may wonder how did he navigate the oceans? That is a good question. He did not. He rowed on a boat across the oceans, across the Atlantic and the Pacific. And you may say, well, that's not going around the world, but he went around the land of the world, and in my that's still Thank you for listening to day the Sports History today. We hope you enjoyed and will give us a like on where wherever you're listening to, and we'll see you tomorrow for more sports history.