Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride

The “remarkable saga” of the bold nineteenth-century woman who made a splash by cycling around the world (The Winston-Salem Journal). Until 1894, there were no female sport stars, no product endorsement deals, and certainly no young mothers with the chutzpah to circle the globe on a bicycle. Annie Londonderry changed all of that. When Annie left Boston in June of that year, she was a brash young lady with a forty-two-pound bicycle, a revolver, a change of underwear, and a dream of freedom. She was also a feisty immigrant mother of three who had become the center of what one newspaper called “one of the most novel wagers ever made”: a high-stakes bet between two wealthy merchants that a woman could not ride around the world on a bicycle. The epic journey that followed took the connection between athletics and commercialism to dizzying new heights, and turned Annie Londonderry into a symbol of women’s equality. A vastly entertaining blend of social history and high adventure, Around the World on Two Wheels is an unforgettable portrait that “illuminates family life, journalism, advertising, and recreation of that transitional era. As for Annie, she was a remarkable woman and well worth getting to know” (Booklist). “A wonderful telling of one of the most intriguing, offbeat, and until now, lost chapters in the history of cycling.” —David Herlihy, author of Bicycle: The History “[An] affectionate portrait of a free spirit who pedaled her way out of Victorian constraints.” —Kirkus Reviews “[A] charming and informative book.” —Cape Cod Times