1st woman global cyclist

There will be a presentation about Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, AKA Annie Londonderry, and her 1894 ride around the world at the Weston Public Library March 11; at the Charles River Museum of Industry March 18 (in conjunction with their exhibit "The Wheelman's Machine- the Bicycle and its Innovators"; and at the Newton Public Library 3/26. The presentation will be moving around the country some, you can check the locations by going to this website http://www.annielondonderry.com/learn.html and clicking on the red "Arrange a presentation about Annie Londonderry" in the upper right cornor.

She was a fiercely independent and free-thinking young woman, who found freedom by reinventing herself as the daring “Annie Londonderry”—entrepreneur, athlete, and celebrated globetrotter

Wow, she must have been some amazing lady, feisty or what.

Thanks for posting this information, must confess, I had never heard of her which seems really bad.

I hope to buy her book soon.

Clock

I've read a book about her. It paints her as somewhat of a charletain and publicity-seeker who did it mainly for money. Some of her stories were fabrications and she often used alternative transportation (taking ships from city to city and then cycling in the city). Clearly she was a strong athlete and deserved accolades for her cycling achievements, but she didn't really cycle around the world (if the book I read is accurate). Her great grand-nephew is giving the lectures, so it will be interesting to see how he presents it. I do plan to attend one of them.

Sorry to be a kill-joy. Just an alternate side of the story.

Not a kill-joy. That was how adventure was done in those days. Many of the polar explorers did similar things to get backing. Actually, I suspect that much of modern "adventure" is the same; Jacques Costeau wasn't shy about plugging his commercial products. There were purely amateur cyclists in that time period, but many of the major trips were put up jobs, often funded by the newspapers that reported the trip.

I just get a kick hearing about the equipment they used. It would have been equivalent to riding long distances on a Wal-mart bike. Many of the bikes were 40+ pounds. Almost none of them had more than 1 gear. Taking a 40 pound bike with 1 gear and luggage over any mountain range just blows my mind. I can forgive a little cheating along the way. I know I would have to.