AroundTheWorldOnTwoWheelsByPeterZheutlin
Introduction/Definition/etc
A cross the world trip, first by a woman, before the right to vote,
showing men a thing or two, not to mention journalism
about sensationalism of the time, and maybe even
her own distant family...
Body
The story of Annie Londonberry's Extraordinary Ride,
subtitled "one woman, one bicycle, one unforgettable journey"
A Jewish Mother of three, married, living in Boston,
named Annie Kopchovsky, Mrs. Kopchovsky,
sets out after working as an Advertising sales person
at a newspaper, on what is described as a bet,
for within 15 months, to travel around the world on a bicycle,
originally a 40 pound Columbia, later a much lighter Sterling,
when she made Chicago from Boston, biked back, or so
it appears, she took trains as described allowed in the bet,
and steamers, boats, across most of India and Asia,
a war going on, ended, just before she arrived,
but she created wonderfully inaccurate copy
all the way along, aparently the way
newspaper journalism was done at that time,
pre internet, just having telegraph, expensive
at that, and the globalization, considered at the time,
pre Wright Brothers, Airplane, steamers, and
the "plucky" woman of 23 or so, made her way
around the world, as feminism, really suffregett (sp?)
(woman's right to vote) and Victorian attire,
she taking men's riding attire as practical
and riding a men's bike, in Bloomers,
to the aghast of many women, though the
men seemed to enjoy it...
She was prohibited from taking any gratuity,
but could ear her money along the way,
being the first female to advertise, streamers,
ribbons, and new last name Londonderry was
the water company that sponsored from the beginning,
League of American Wheelman, (later non sexist,
LAB Bicyclists) and bikes called wheels,
ironically enough now cars are called that,
but the freedom and rebellion that is a biker,
most fearing for her safety, questioning her
ability, and her femininity, built up muscles,
and tanned from exposure, much less the non traditional
clothing, and the social norms of the time, so much
like today's car dominated society, how could someone
think of doing such traveling...
Her bicycle was equipped with an odometer like device,
tracking miles, as she went from Chicago, the earlier
bike was not possible, she was ready to quit,
laden down with corsets, petticoats, etc,
heading to the Midwest in late fall, turning back at
Chicago, along the routes she just went,,
contacts already made, this account written by a
distant relative, who didn't know he had an great grand
aunt or something similar, finding his personal history as he
is diagnosed with prostate cancer, finding his relative
Mary, a direct blood relative of Annie, and the original slides,
completing her lifetime wish to write a book
about it, filled with so many inconsistencies,
the stories she told along the way of being a Harvard
medical student, a lawyer, and all sorts of things
that made good copy, but were far from what today
is considered the truth or good journalism standards,
fact checking nearly impossible, one telegraph
only confirming she had left Boston, by the
time she was in the Texas states, one future state still part
of Mexico, trains and the tracks sometimes the most
direct route, telling stories of being attacked,
by a black man, in New York state, bandits in
California, staged photos making the adventure
much more real for people who probably wouldn't
even consider it, though she was welcomed in
so many towns, her advance press she created
to make it possible, speaking engagements lined
up, and no bad publicity, finding people disputing
her claims equally as good to draw a crowd as
praise...
Paris, and customs an issue, like for many,
ThreeCupsOfTeaByGregMortensonAndDavidOliverRelin
or SpokesongsByWillieWeir
but not at a time of war, then, she, according to the
alleged bet between sugar businessmen, could not speak
another language, though reports said she spoke
many different languages, wearing a sign, and doing like
patamime for what she needed, frequently misunderstood...
Along the way, she had many companions
called escorts from the local riding clubs,
and frequently put up by those clubs, welcomed and
housed and fed, doing sales work at bike stores
and other places along the way,
for the streamers she advertised, and photos and
buttons and stuff she sold to make the required
$5,000 Above expenses along the journey, to
win the $10,000 purse...
She frequented many town events, some bicycle
races, where she would usually not race, even men,
while reports said she left many men in the dust
along the way into town, met by some of the best
locals, showing her the way, or providing some
riding company...
One can wonder what riders today would think
of doing such a thing, clearly
ComputingAcrossAmericaBook
and his later ReachingEscapeVelocity
suggest media as a way of making such
trips possible... Advanced press and donations
making the unbelievable more palatable
instead of bizarre and dangerous...
And with all the dangers people project
and some of them real, why would one wait
to the end to write a book, likely too far off
in the future, or the trip stopped,
to really cash in on the experience, the
hype along the way higher than the mountains
climbed...
Book Data
Hardback
$22.95 US list
CopyRight 2007
ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-2851-9
173 pages text with Epilogue, and Appendix
then to a scholarly 260 pages
with Bibliography, Notes, and Index
Conclusion
Summary of experience or similar
Discussion
A place for feedback on the page presented
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