A Remarkable Woman

Annie Londonderry was the first woman cyclist to circle the globe. Although she was a celebrity in her day she would now be completely forgotten if it was not for the extensive research of her descendant Peter Zheutlin and his book 'Around the World on Two Wheels'. Santa kindly brought me a copy and, although it can be hard to seperate truth from fantasy, it makes fascinating reading.
Annie's real name was Anna Kopchovsky and she was married with 3 young children. In 1895 she set off to cycle round the world apparently as part of a bet of $10,000 between two Boston sugar magnates. To make things even more difficult she had to set off without money, was not allowed to beg, and must earn $5000 during her journey. Earning the money was no problem for her as she gave talks to sell out audiences and sold signed copies of her photograph but as she only learnt to ride a bike two days before she set off she faced a steep learning curve!

Long journeys with outlandish conditions undertaken for a bet were popular entertainment at the time and were avidly reported in the newspapers. In Annie's case it is doubtful if this bet really existed or if it was invented by her to attract publicity and to earn fame and fortune. Annie was a skilful self publicist who never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Her change of name immediately attracted sponsorship from the Londonderry Spring Water company – the first instance of sponsorship for womens sport. When she left the Massachusetts State House on June 25 1894 she was riding a womans Columbia bicycle that weighed 42 pounds and dressed in long skirts. Roads were often little more than dirt tracks and as her bike was a fixed wheel there was no possibility of a little leisurely freewheeling. By the time she reached New York she had realised the unsuitability of her clothing and replaced her heavy skirt with a short skirt worn over bloomers. One of the things that astonished me when reading the book is the way the newspapers were far more concerned with what she wore than with what she did. Wearing bloomers was seen as more exceptional than cycling across the USA!

Annie's plan had been to cycle to San Fransisco and then continue by ship but by the time she reached Chicago three months later she had had enough. Her bike was too heavy and cumbersome and she had lost 20lbs in weight. The Sterling Cycle Company came to her rescue and supplied her with a lightweight (20lbs), diamond framed, specially painted Expert Model E Light Roadster. Its not clear why she then completely changed her plans and cycled back to New York to catch a steamer to France but riding a man's bike and wearing bloomers she certainly created quite a stir.

If she caused a stir in the USA she caused a sensation in France and was feted everywhere she went on her ride from Le Havre to Marseille where she took another ship. At this point her claim to have cycled round the world becomes a little tenuous. She certainly visited Egypt, Columbo, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Shangai and Japan and did some cycling there but most of her travel was by ship. Nine months after leaving Boston she returned by ship to San Fransisco. The cyclometer on her bike read 7280 miles. She still had to cycle back to Chicago which brought her final cycling total to 9604 miles. She was a tremendous showman who knew how to exaggerate for maximum effect and, as previously remarked, never let the truth get in the way of a good story but this was none the less a tremendous achievement for a lone woman given the road conditions and prevailing social attitudes of the day.