Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Winter 2014 | IRON BUTT MAGAZINE  never heard of George Adams Wyman, the first person to cross America on a motorcycle. In , I suspect only a handful of people knew about George; the motorcycling public forgot his story. At best, it was just a footnote in some long lost enthusiast publication. Trailblazer Motor bicycling was just beginning to take hold in America. George was a competitive bicyclist and racer. He would be an early adopter of motorized bicycling and saw riding across the continent as a sporting endeavor, rather than a demonstration of its transportation value. To him it was a challenging adven- ture. George kept a journal, which has unfortunately never been found, and documented his ride across America. His sponsor, Motorcycle magazine, published his account in five issues start- ing in June .There was a brief flurry of publicity surround- ing his successful ride for a few months. Motorcycle magazine ceased publication in , and the story of Wyman’s historic feat just faded into obscurity. It took two generations (about  years) for the sport of motorcycle touring to capture the imagi- nation of riders, and even longer for Wyman’s story to resurface into the motorcycling public’s consciousness. In the s and s Roger Hull was instrumental in the development of motorcycle touring as a distinct endeavor,which would ultimately spawn the long-distance enthusiasm we know today. Hull was the co-founder and publisher of Road Rider magazine, which sported the tagline “for the touring motorcyclist since .” He became an American Motorcyclist Association trustee and Hall of Fame inductee. Some years before, Hull ran across a mention of Wyman’s story while reading a  motorcycle publication. There wasn’t much information about the ride, just that Wyman was the first to cross America on a motorcycle. He had never heard of George Wyman’s historic ride. Curious, Hull set out to find more about this story. He was in the motorcycle story business and very much wanted to tell this motorcycle touring saga. All his attempts to find out about Wyman came to naught.He conceded that he made no concen- trated search, just occasional inquiries here and there. Nobody seemed to know anything about George Wyman. During Daytona speed week in , Hull was chatting with motorcycle history researcher G.W. “Oley” Knudsen, and brought up the subject of Wyman’s trip. Knudsen had never heard of Wyman and knew nothing of the trip, but was intrigued. Hull thereupon engaged Knudsen to research the Wyman mystery and flesh out the story. After an -month search, Knudsen was able to locate a vintage motorcycle memo- rabilia and literature collector who had what may be the only surviving copy of the original Motorcycle magazine articles on Wyman’s ride – complete with pictures. All the materials regarding Wyman’s ride were now in the public domain and Herb Glass granted Road Rider magazine permission to republish the narratives and pictures. In August , as part of the th anniversary special edition, Road Rider magazine published the complete series of the Motorcycle maga- zine articles on Wyman’s ride. With the series was a November  article by A.Nicolas Jarvis,“The Merit of Wyman’s Perfor- mance.” Virtually everything we know about the Wyman story today is linked directly to the August  republication of the original articles. Today, even the August  Road Rider issue is a rare find. Linking the Past to the Present Any LD rider who reads Wyman’s account will immediately recognize why his story is so fascinating, especially to those of us in the long-distance riding community. Before any of us experienced the passions of the long ride, Wyman lived it. Reading his story offers a unique and historic perspective into our sport. For example, in the summer of , George rode his newly acquired California motor bicycle from San Francisco,California to a bicycle event in Reno,Nevada,cross- ing over the Sierra Mountains. He was the first to do so on a motorcycle and on the way back to San Francisco remarked, “It was that tour, nevertheless, that fired me with the desire Motorcycle ing in June .There was a brief flurry of publicity surround- ing in June .There was a brief flurry of publicity surround- ing his successful ride for a few months. Wyman mystery and flesh out the story. After an -month search, Knudsen was able to locate a vintage motorcycle memo- search, Knudsen was able to locate a vintage motorcycle memo- rabilia and literature collector who had what may be the only surviving copy of the original Wyman’s ride – complete with pictures. All the materials regarding Wyman’s ride were now in the public domain and Herb Glass granted permission to republish the narratives and pictures. In August , as part of the  magazine published the complete series of the zine articles on Wyman’s ride. With the series was a November  article by A.Nicolas Jarvis,“The Merit of Wyman’s Perfor- mance.” Virtually everything we know about the Wyman story today is linked directly to the August  republication of the original articles. Today, even the August  Road Rider issue is a rare find. is a rare find. Linking the Past to the Present Any LD rider who reads Wyman’s account will immediately recognize why his story is so fascinating, especially to those of us in the long-distance riding community. Before any of us experienced the passions of the long ride, Wyman lived it. Reading his story offers a unique and historic perspective into our sport. For example, in the summer of , George rode his newly acquired