On today’s date 120 years ago, Monday, July 6, 1903, noted American bicycle racer, chauffeur, automobile mechanic, & pioneering motorcyclist George Adams Wyman (1877-1959) made history when he completed a transcontinental journey & arrived in New York City, thus becoming the first person to cross the North American continent by a road-going motorized vehicle. Wyman’s journey took a total of 51 days to cover some 3,800 miles. Wyman completed his trip just 20 days before Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson (1872-1955) became first person to cross the North American Continent by automobile.
☞George Wyman’s machine, a 1902 California Motorcycle Company “motor-bicycle,” had a 200cc, 1.5 horsepower, four-stroke engine bolted to a standard steel bicycle frame. Wyman’s machine was equipped with 28” x 1.5” pneumatic tires on wooden rims, a leading-link front suspension fork, a springed seat, a Duck Brake Company front roller brake & an Atherton rear coaster brake. A leather drive-belt with a spring-loaded idler pulley directly connected the engine output shaft to the rear wheel. The California weighed roughly 80 pounds & was capable of a top speed of approximately 25 miles per hour.
☞In order to save weight, Wyman packed only one change of clothing, a water bottle, various small tools, one can for spare oil, one can for reserve gasoline, a Kodak Vest-Pocket camera, a cyclometer, & a .38-calibre Smith & Wesson revolver.
☞The circa-1903 photograph depicts George Wyman with his motor-bicycle on which he became the first motorcyclist to cross the North American Continent.
