In 1903, an unknown bicycle racer named George A. Wyman rode a 1.25 horsepower California motorcycle from San Francisco to New York City. He was the first person to cross the country with a motor vehicle – car or motorcycle. After a brief period of fame, he faded from history.
In the summer of 2016, I followed Wyman’s route on a Zero electric motorcycle. I visited many of the towns that Wyman visited and looked for traces of his journey. I was the third person to ride an electric motorcycle self-supported across the country.
In 2017 and 2018, a five part story about my trip appeared in the pages of RoadRUNNER Magazine, the largest motorcycle touring magazine in the country and I have presented Wyman’s story at Americade, the BMW Riders Association Rally, Ireland Bikefest, and RoadRUNNER’s Touring Weekend.
I am currently working on a book. Wyman’s story has been lost to history and my hope is to give him the credit that he deserves as the father of the cross country road trip.
Wyman Posts
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Chapter 3 of my George A Wyman Substack story is here.
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The second “chapter” of my Substack experiment is published here.
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I’m trying something new – I’m publishing my George A. Wyman story on Substack. Check it out. https://followingwyman.substack.com/ The announcement and first installment have been published. This will be a good way to get the story out there and make it available to a wide audience. Please share the link with your friends. I plan on…
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The June 2018 issue of RoadRUNNER Touring and Travel magazine has my fifth and final story about George A Wyman. Available at Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers. This was one of my most ambitious writing projects ever, and RoadRUNNER did a fantastic job with the layout of each installment. I’ve been laboring on…
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And I talk about cats too. Chuck and Todd had a fun show (200 episodes already) and we have a lot of laughs as we talk about motorjournalism, my cross country trip, and whatever else happens to cross their minds. A good time was had by all… Check it out! http://wheelnerds.com/e/cat-photos-across-america/
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The fourth part of my five-part George A Wyman story is in the March 2018 issue of RoadRUNNER Magazine. The Great Plains of the Midwest should have been easier than the mountains out west, but they weren’t. But Wyman eventually made it to Chicago, and so did I on the Zero DSR electric motorcycle.
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“In the Tire Tracks of a Pioneer, Part 3: Lonesome Wyoming” is in the January 2018 issue of RoadRUNNER Magazine. In this, the middle child of five installments, George A. Wyman and I travel across the wide open spaces of Wyoming. Check it out.
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“In the Tire Tracks of a Pioneer: Across the Great Basin Desert” is in the December 2017 issue of RoadRUNNER Magazine. This is the second of a five-part series on George A Wyman, who in 1903 became the first person to cross the country on a motorcycle (or any type of motor vehicle, actually). Part…
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I’ll be at RoadRUNNER’s Touring Weekend August 10-13, 2017 in Kingsport, TN, leading rides and presenting George A Wyman’s story on Friday night. Hope to see you there!
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I’ll be at Americade this year telling the story of George A Wyman and my journey last summer following his tire tracks. Click here for more information. Stop by if you around this year!