S. G. Spier, who claims the championship for long-distance riding, arrived in this city on last Thursday evening at 9 o’clock. His principal reason for traversing the continent on a bicycle was to beat the world’s record, made by Thomas Stevens in 1884. Mr. Spier is 22 years old, stands five feet eight inches, and weighs 150 pounds. He came overland on a 52-inch wheel.
He joined the L.A.W. June 3, 1884, and in that year he won the nine-mile race at the Columbia County road championship, in 27 minutes. His fastest mile, 2:44, 1-5, was made at Troy, N.Y., July 27, 1885; and at Washington, D.C., September, 1884, he made the remarkable run of five miles in 14 minutes and three-quarters of a second.
He has been 100 1/2 days on the road from New York to San Francisco, and in that time he has covered 4,600 miles. Mr. Spier asserts that he has ridden the full distance on his bicycle, and, as a matter of proof, he carries a book in which each postmaster along the route has recorded his name, and also affixes the official stamp of his office. To several of our local bicyclists it seems astonishing that he managed to make such remarkable time, considering the rough roads he had to ride over and the excessive heat of a summer’s sun. Spier came by way of Denver and Ogden. He followed the Lake Shore route from New York to Omaha, keeping close to the railroad track throughout the whole distance. He has traveled several hundred miles further than Stevens did on his trip two years ago, having left the main road at one point and taken a trip to Leadville, Colorado. From the latter place he crossed by trail to Salt Lake City.
His ride over the mountains was marked, in two instances, by hair-breadth escapes. After leaving Truckee Mr. Spier took advantage of a beautiful evening and spurted more than his usual gait, in the hope of reaching a small village that was convenient to the railroad track and about thirty miles from Truckee. His expectations were, however, blasted when he encountered one of those monstrous tunnels that are so numerous on the road in the vicinity of Truckee. It was tunnel No. 12, and as he got about half way through it his hair stood on end when the sharp whistle of an engine informed him of his imminent danger. The train of cars came thundering along, and every moment seemed to him a decade. It was pitch dark within the tunnel. The bicyclist had but a brief moment to push himself and his machine as close to the wall’s side as possible, when the locomotive and its attached train of cars swept past, leaving a space of about four inches between the silver wheel and the iron wheels. Spier made one continual run on his machine to Colfax, a distance of fifty-five miles.
At Tacoma, Nevada, his attention was attracted to where a number of sporting men were in dispute over the merits of two fighting dogs, which were determining a hardly contested battle. The difference of opinion ended with a general row, a dozen or more pistols were drawn, and before the world’s long distance champion bicyclist could spurt out of the range of danger, half a dozen bullets went whizzing pat him. The result of the melee was that one man was shot dead and some others were very seriously wounded. The canines did not relinquish their hold during the fight between their owners and fanciers. The bicyclist, however, thought that part of the country exceedingly rough, and he did not wait to learn the outcome of the dog-fight.
Mr. Spier left Sacramento on the morning of the 8th, and followed the track to Elmira. At noon, on Thursday, the 9th inst., he arrived at Benicia, where he took the ferryboat. From Benicia he rode over the wagon road to Pinole, to San Pablo, and from the latter place he made a last run to Oakland. He reached this city at 9 o’clock on Thursday night last. Spier is at present stopping at the Baldwin Hotel, and intends making this city his future home, as he is much infatuated with our glorious climate.
As a long-distance rider Spier is a celebrity. The following are some of his best records: Sixty miles in four hours. 116 miles in twelve hours and 300 miles in thirty-eight hours. The young man does not at all resemble an athlete who had just completed the great task of traversing the continent on wheels. Spier looks quite fresh, and, to use his own words, “the trip across the continent has given me no extra weight.”
Van Meerbeke looked completely worn out when he arrived in this city last Wednesday, after accomplishing his wonderful ride across the continent by way of New Orleans and Arizona. There is unquestionably a great difference in the facial appearance of the two men. Van Meerbeke shows the effects of the sun, Spier’s features are not even bronzed. Spier claims that during the entire trip he has not had one single header. He attributes this good fortune to the bicycle he rode, the saddle being placed on the wheel and not on springs, as in the majority of bicycles now ridden.
San Francisco Morning Call, September 11, 1886
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