Carolyn Carter, 68, of Alamo, Texas, breaks at the Seward County Courthouse June 24 as she makes her way from San Francisco to Boston on a high wheel bicycle. Carter will be the first woman to complete the trip, re-enacting a journey by Thomas Stevens in 1884.
Carolyn Carter left San Francisco on May 28. She hopes to arrive in Boston by the first week of August.
She doesn’t have much with her. Some snacks. A GPS. A waterbottle.
She averages around 60 miles a day, sometimes 70 or 80.
Carolyn, 68, is making the same journey her husband, Steve, and 15 other men have made from Pacific to Atlantic atop an old-fashioned high wheel bicycle.
“I’m going to be the first woman,” she said.
The Carters passed through Seward on June 24, taking a moment to rest at the courthouse.
Carolyn’s goal is to re-enact the journey Thomas Stevens made in 1884, when he became the first to ride a high wheel from San Francisco to Boston. He completed the trip in 104 days by following the railroad.
“He was promoting that bicycles are usable and ridable,” Carolyn said.
Steve Carter set a world record for completing the journey in 33 days in 1992.
“We dipped the back wheel in the bay when we left San Francisco, and we’ll dip the front wheel in the harbor when we reach Boston,” Carolyn said.
This time, Steve is accompanying Carolyn in a pickup carrying food, supplies and his own high wheel, which he occasionally rides alongside her.
Sometimes Steve drives ahead to scope out the route and let Carolyn know about any detours or problem areas. Other times, he’ll drive behind and encourage her to keep going.
Carolyn stops about every 20 miles. When Steve’s going to be far away, she carries a backpack of water and supplies.
“Twenty miles on that seat is about all your body wants,” she said.
The couple lives in Alamo, Texas, where they ride 30 miles every day and play water volleyball four days a week. To train for the trip, they cycled 50 to 100 miles a couple times a week.
“Texas has been real good training for this hot weather,” Carolyn said.
The bikes they ride originated in Europe and were called “penny farthings.” They were named “ordinaries” in the United States and are now known as “high wheels.”
The Carters like to find bicycles from the late 1800s and restore them to how they looked and functioned 120 years ago. The bike Carolyn is riding has a nickel finish – what Steve said was the chrome of the 1800s.
The couple is part of The Wheelmen, a club with more than 800 members nationwide and internationally. Steve said the club has members from Europe, Australia and Canada.
The club formed in 1967.
“We try to re-enact what they did 50 years ago, when they were re-enacting what they did 100 years ago,” Steve said.
The Carters will make a four-day stop in Elmhurst, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, July 6-10 for the club’s annual meeting. They will dress in Victorian attire, play bicycle games and pass on their love of high wheels to younger generations.
Carolyn has retired from 25 years of school bus driving and real estate sales. Steve used to farm.
Now, they stay active with their community in Texas and enjoy traveling.
Once they reach Boston, the couple will drive back to Texas, stopping to see family in Indiana on the way.
To see more photos and tales from the road, follow Carolyn on her Facebook page, Carolyn Crosscountryride, or visit the Wheelmen Club at www.thewheelmen.org.
