Alfred Henry Tipper (1867-1944), cyclist and showman, was born on 12 July 1867 at Sale, Victoria, second son of Thomas Tipper, a grocer from England, and his Irish-born wife Catherine, née Chadwick. Alfred claimed to have been abandoned by his parents at the age of 2 and brought up as a ward of the state. In his youth he worked on a dairy farm and also acquired a considerable knowledge of mechanics. He took up competitive cycling in the 1880s, during the early stages of the boom in that sport.

Ford Car No.2 is First in long contest. Finishes Transcontinental Race at Seattle in Presence of 15'000 Spectators

George Francis Train (1829-1904), merchant and entrepreneur, was born on 24 March 1829 at Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, son of Oliver Train and his wife Maria, née Pickering. His parents and three sisters died in a yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans in 1833 and he was raised in Waltham, Massachusetts, by his maternal grandparents, who were staunch Methodists.

A. F. Tschiffely was born into an old Swiss family in Bern in 1895 where he was educated and became a teacher. An adventurer at heart, he left Switzerland to teach in England in his early 20s, but found a new passion as a professional footballer and boxer. He then moved to Buenos Aires where he settled into teaching again, at St. George's College, Quilmes, and later as the temporary headmaster of the Buenos Aires English High School, but still found time on long vacations for adventures riding horses and exploring the surrounding pampas.