The Last Ride of Frank Lenz
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The Last Ride of Frank Lenz its equally-sized wheels provided more stability than the high-wheel models that had domi- one of In 1892, nated the previous decade, and newly-invented inflatable tires added a more cushioned ride America’s early cyclists set than earlier designs. out for the trip of a lifetime, Although the quality of the era’s roads left much to be desired, the early cyclists began seeking fame and adven- to push the limits via long-distance races and pleasure rides organized by “wheelman” clubs ture. He found both — and that sprang up from coast to coast. Among the legion of early bicycle fanatics by Geof Koss paid with his life. was Frank Lenz, a clerk and amateur photog- In the fall of 1894, Alexander W. Terrell, a rapher from Pittsburgh. The son of German grizzled Civil War veteran serving as the U.S. immigrants, Lenz took up cycling at the age of ambassador to Turkey, received a curious let- 17 and spent much of his free time exploring ter. Writing from the faraway Pittsburg suburb the mountains of southwest Pennsylvania with of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, the sender was other members of his home club, the Allegheny desperately seeking word of a young American Cyclers. traveler named Frank Lenz. Driven by a powerful case of wanderlust, “If possible kindly advise me if Mr. Lenz Lenz’s cycling journeys soon led him farther has arrived in your city,” wrote T. P. Langhans, and farther from home. In 1889 he made a solo whose letter identified him as the treasurer trip to New York City and the next year visited for a lumber company. “I am anxious to St. Louis with a friend. In 1891 the pair jour- know something about my friend, as I have neyed through the Deep South to New Orleans not received any word from him since he left on their high-wheelers, and Lenz also traveled Bunder Abbas, Persia.” as far west as Chicago. Terrell was about to be drawn into a mystery Notably, he recorded these early tours with that would captivate the American public for a heavy camera carried in a special backpack more than a year and echo through the halls of he designed himself. In surviving photos from Congress and the White House for even longer. this era, Lenz is seen in a cap and a tight black But only an unusual postscript in Langhan’s outfit as he and his friends posed with their note foreshadowed events to come: “P.S.: Mr. high-wheelers. Lenz is attempting to make a complete circuit “I had become so familiar with my ‘bike,’ of the Globe, on a bicycle.” that to ride it, laden like a packhorse, had In the early 1890s, Americans and become second nature,” he wrote. “Still, I Europeans went wild over the introduction of yearned, like Alexander, for new fields to con- the modern “safety” bicycle, so-called because quer.” MAP: CASEY GREENE The longing for adventure soon mani- “People crowded around me in such num- characters he encountered. Word of Lenz’s short detour of the first foreign country of with baggage, canteen, revolver, the Indian fully loaded. fested itself in a bold new plan: an around- bers that I found it impossible to mount my journey often preceded him by telegraph his trip. Upon reentering the United States bow and arrows, and an old buffalo horn But tougher days lay ahead, and it the-world bicycle tour. Although at least wheel, much less make the start,” he wrote and newspapers, and he was greeted by at Detroit, he pressed on to Chicago where from the plains, was a curiosity to the mass was with some trepidation that he sailed one person — an English-born American of the 100 cyclists who accompanied him local wheelmen as a long-lost cousin, feted he observed the busy preparations for the of business men, clerks and workmen, for Japan in late October. However, Lenz named Thomas Stevens — had already from City Hall on June 4. with club dinners and accommodations. He World’s Fair of 1893. and soon the crowd swarmed about me, sounded a confident tone in a letter home, circled the globe by bicycle, Lenz’s trip was The early Outing articles detail the three soon found himself a minor celebrity, and Lenz’s first brush with serious dan- trying to hear me answering a newspaper in which he urged his uncle to calm his to be unique for two reasons: he would be months Lenz spent crossing the North notwithstanding the occasional downpour ger occurred while he was en route to the first to attempt the journey from east to America continent; which included such or mechanical troubles, appeared to be hav- Minneapolis. A train suddenly emerged west, and he would bring his camera. joys and travails as variable road and ing a blast on his “world tour awheel.” from around a bend as he was crossing a Lenz pitched his plan to a popular rec- weather conditions, the quest for meals Twelve days out from New York, Lenz steep ravine on a railroad bridge. Lenz nar- reation magazine called Outing, which, to and lodging, and descriptions of the many crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls for a rowly escaped death by dangling his legs his surprise, agreed to pay him to serialize and heavy bicycle over the bridge’s edge. his adventures from the road. The Overman “The train fairly flew by within two feet of Wheel Company of Massachusetts threw in a me causing the bridge to tremble and groan Victor safety bicycle and supplies, and Lenz’s as if it were ready to go down,” he wrote. series of articles for Outing, “Around the “My feelings at this moment can be better World With Wheel And Camera,” was born. imagined than described.” He hit the road that spring on a Sunday The spectacular scenery of the American morning after a goodbye bash thrown by West awed Lenz, who spent five days his wheelman pals. “Mr. Lenz will have a exploring Yellowstone National Park by long but pleasant trip, and will doubtless wheel. He later tumbled 30 feet down a have some interesting stories to tell the Montana pass after being distracted by gor- boys upon his return home,” wrote the geous mountain views, but he escaped with Pittsburgh Dispatch. The date was May 15, only a few cuts and bruises. Grand Trunk Road. Lenz pauses along the famous route in northern India. 1892, Lenz was 25 years old, and expected Upon crossing the Cascade Range of the to be gone for two years. Pacific Northwest, Lenz rested a few days reporter who was on hand to do the usual worried mother: “Always try to drive the The first stop was Washington, DC, in Portland, which was bike-crazy even interviewing.” fear from her, as I will no doubt get through where Lenz gathered a passport and a let- in 1892, before he pushed on to his final By Lenz’s estimates, he had pedaled everywhere without trouble.” ter of introduction from Secretary of State American destination of San Francisco. 4,587 miles in 107 days, a respectable Following a brief stop in Hawaii, Lenz’s James G. Blaine before heading to Outing’s There he immediately drew a crowd after 45-mile-a-day pace considering that his steamship pulled into Yokohama harbor New York City offices for a proper sendoff. India. Lenz was deeply moved by the Taj Mahal near Agra, India. arriving October 20: “My wheel, loaded single-speed bicycle weighed 110 pounds in mid-November. He was anxious to see 28 adventure cyclist january 2009 adventurecycling.org adventure cyclist january 2009 adventurecycling.org 29 Japan, a country he had studied exten- lowering her veil to view him better as at his uncharacteristic silence and began reputation, but in early 1894 it had become sively before leaving home. The three- he passed: “A row of rosy-tipped fingers to contact U.S. diplomats and missionaries even more treacherous as long-simmer- week journey across the island did not clutched the white gauze veil and, for one in Persia and Turkey for word of his fate. ing tension between the Islamic Turks of disappoint. In Outing he proclaimed Japan’s instant, revealed a picture I shall never for- Newspapers from Hawaii to Canada ran sto- the Ottoman Empire and their Christian exotic culture and good roads to be “some- get. The complexion was exquisitely fair. ries about the mystery, spawning numerous Armenian subjects began to boil over. Tens thing akin to an Earthly Eden and an ideal No wanton ray of old Sol had ever kissed theories. One popular belief was that Lenz of thousands of Armenians are estimated land for travel.” He praised its people as that bloodless cheek, which seemed as if it had been kidnapped and was being held to have died at the hands of Turkish sol- clever and industrious. had never known the crimson of a blush.” for ransom. diers and their nomadic Kurdish allies in However, Lenz admitted he found Lenz found Teheran so pleasant that it The mystery was exacerbated by Outing, 1894–95, as Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid Japanese cuisine underwhelming. “The was hard to leave, but he was anxious to which erroneously reported in July that sought to crush a growing Armenian resis- fish and meats were cooked in a fearful cross Turkey before the heat of summer, so Lenz had arrived at Constantinople, and tance movement. kind of liquid sauce, which I could not rel- he reluctantly departed on April 1 for the later that fall by the receipt of a long- It was into this environment that Lenz ish, no matter how hungry I was.” He also Persian city of Tabreez, 375 miles away.