George Wyman (1877 – 1959) was born and raised in Oakland, California. He became a competitive cyclist and as a young man moved to Australia to pursue a cycling career. He made a name for himself by being the first American to cycle the circumference of Australia. In 1902 he returned to the Bay Area and began competing for various local cycling clubs. It was during that time that he acquired an interest in motorized bicycles. He was introduced to the founders of The California Motorcycle Company, a San Francisco-based company that had factories at 309 and 730 Larkin.
California Motor Company and the Goodman Company, publisher of The Motorcycle Magazine, approached Wyman and bankrolled a journey across the continent on one of CMC’s motorized bikes. CMC also offered Wyman an additional $500 if he could complete his journey in under 40 days. Goodman Company gained exclusive rights to his story. Wyman’s bike weighed 75 pounds without body weight or supplies. It was capable of going no faster than 25 miles per hour. Wyman carried a set of warm clothing, money, a water bottle, cans for oil and gasoline, a Kodak Best Pocket camera, a cyclometer, some tools and spare parts and a .38 Smith & Wesson pistol.
He departed from Lotta’s Fountain[1], located at the corner of Market and Kearney in San Francisco, on May 16, 1903 at 2:30PM. Wyman chose to follow the Overland train route to Nebraska. The roads were mostly rutted dirt trails, so he ended up riding on railroad tracks for over half of his journey. From Omaha Wyman followed rail lines through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and into New York. By the time he reached Albany, his engine was beyond repair, and he pedaled the remaining 150 miles. He arrived in New York City on July 6th, 51 days after leaving San Francisco. He did not receive the $500 prize money, but he did become the first person to cross the United States in a motorized vehicle and was given a first class return train ticket back to the City. Upon his return his motorbike was put on display in Golden Gate Park[2]. Unfortunately, he only held his title for twenty days, being upstaged by Horacio Jackson, who became the first person to cross the United States by automobile.
Wyman ended up settling in San Francisco where he worked as a chauffeur and auto mechanic. It should be noted that by 1911 only 1 in every 200 San Francisco families owned an automobile. One in four families still owned a horse, with the majority of the San Francisco population relying on public transporation. Wyman eventually wrote a book about his adventure: Across America on a Motor Bicycle. He died in Eureka, California in 1959 at the age of 82 and his ashes were interred at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.[3]
[1] Lotta’s Fountain: see story coming June 20th
[2] Golden Gate Park: see story coming April 4th
[3] For a detailed itinerary of Wyman’s journey, visit http://Wyman memorial project.blogspot.com
