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Reynolds here for Ryan Reynolds here for

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It's April 22nd,

1:33

1884, and another remarkable

1:35

event is about to

1:37

be uncovered by... Arya, Rebecca,

1:40

and Ali. The

1:42

Retrospectors. The

1:45

impracticable scheme of a visionary was

1:47

the most charitable verdict Thomas Stevens says

1:49

he encountered when he first announced

1:51

his plan to cycle around the world.

1:53

But according to the man himself,

1:55

the first essential element of success is

1:57

to have sufficient confidence in oneself

1:59

to brave the criticisms, to say

2:01

nothing of the witticisms of a sceptical public.

2:03

And so he set off on this

2:05

day towards the Sierra Nevada mountains and ultimately

2:07

into the history books. He made him

2:09

sound like a kind of... Oscar Wilde type

2:11

character by that very erudite quote that

2:13

you kicked us off with. Worth

2:15

mentioning that he was working in a mine

2:17

when he got the idea of cycling

2:19

initially across the states before he had the

2:22

idea of... traversing the world. But I

2:24

mean, how many people working in boring and

2:26

difficult hard labor jobs like that have

2:28

dreams like that? And how few people actually

2:30

pursue them? And by the way, a

2:32

bike then in 1884 was a penny farthing.

2:34

It wasn't a bike like you have

2:37

now. It's something that leaves you four foot

2:39

off the ground. Yeah. And according

2:41

to some accounts, he didn't even know how to

2:43

ride a bike at the time. Bike riding was

2:45

a relatively new phenomenon. And if you're working in

2:47

mills and mines as he was, there's not really

2:49

much cause for a bike. Although side note in

2:51

the penny farthing always wondered why did they have

2:53

them? Why didn't they ride normal bikes from the

2:56

start? Exactly.

2:58

It's all to do with the gears

3:00

on a bike that enable you to go

3:02

faster. Without gears, the thing that

3:04

could make you go faster was having a gigantic wheel.

3:06

If you think about the momentum and drive you'd

3:08

get from that huge wheel, that was what enabled

3:10

you to cycle at a fast enough speed to make

3:12

it fun. I guess if you imagine cycling on

3:15

a tiny, tiny wheel, how slowly you'd go. But

3:18

the downside of them was that you

3:20

would inevitably be thrown over the handlebars

3:22

many times. And that was one reason

3:24

it took a while to pick up.

3:27

that he took with him initially in

3:29

his handlebar bag were a few clothes,

3:31

a raincoat and a pocket revolver, and

3:33

a sort of soft hat. But having

3:35

been thrown over the handlebars one too

3:37

many times, he eventually reached for a

3:39

military helmet, which then became the thing

3:41

that he wore for the rest of

3:43

his journey around the world. I did

3:45

notice no mention of underwear. in that

3:47

list. I think we can probably conclude

3:49

he was going commande. I think we

3:51

conclude that he's stunk. Because you read

3:53

some accounts of him wheeling into various

3:55

towns across America as well. And

3:57

this guy turns up covered in mud

3:59

and sweating profusely. As much as

4:02

anything, the physical challenge wasn't even just

4:04

the bike, it was the sheer mileage, wasn't

4:06

it? It was the fact that he

4:08

was traversing the country one third of which

4:10

He had to walk across the United States,

4:12

lugging the bike around and then sleeping

4:14

under the bike so he used the waterproof

4:17

cover as a tent at night with

4:19

the penny farthing being the pole in the

4:21

middle. I mean, some people now say

4:23

they can't cycle to work because there's no

4:25

cycle path on the road. Those

4:28

initial stages were incredibly rough. Like he had

4:30

to push his bike through the Sierra Nevada

4:32

mountains. Then it was a long wagon trails

4:34

over scorching desert where he was attacked by

4:36

a mountain lion. He was bitten by a

4:38

rattlesnake. like he really had the worst time

4:40

at the start. His encounter with that mountain

4:42

lion is amazing actually. The lion lunges at

4:45

him and he actually hides behind the bike

4:47

and then shoots at him but he says

4:49

that as opposed to most people who shoot

4:51

too high he was like in his brain

4:53

he was going most people shoot too high

4:55

so I'll shoot a bit too low but

4:57

he actually did shoot too low. But it

4:59

kicked up dirt into the mountain lion's face

5:02

and the mountain lion then sort of slunk

5:04

away into the bushes and ran off. But

5:06

his final comment was, I shall shed blood

5:08

of some sort yet before I leave Nevada.

5:10

There isn't a day I don't shoot at

5:12

something or other. And all I ask of

5:14

any animal is to come within 200 yards

5:17

and I will squander a cartridge on him

5:19

and I never fail to hit the ground.

5:22

And of course we know this because ultimately

5:24

he published a bestselling two volume book

5:26

around the world on a bicycle. And so

5:28

we have his account to go on.

5:30

But a bit like our episode the other

5:32

day about the first European who returned

5:34

from Timbuktu. I mean, we only have his

5:36

account to go on, don't we? The

5:38

lion didn't write a novel. So, I mean,

5:40

there's a lot of daring do and

5:42

adventurism, which I think maybe slightly fabricated or

5:44

glamorized. But I mean, cycling was in

5:46

need of someone to glamorize it. It was

5:48

a popular hobby of middle -class young men

5:50

who had the disposable income to buy

5:52

one and the time to actually learn to

5:54

ride it. They had a bit of

5:56

a controversial reputation, mostly because they enabled young

5:58

people to cycle away from the watchful

6:00

eyes of their elders. There was particular concern

6:02

over the idea of women learning to

6:04

ride bikes because who knows where they could

6:06

go in one, you know, they could

6:08

just pedal off. So at every stop along

6:10

the way, Stevens was greeted not just

6:12

by curious onlookers, but also local bicycle clubs.

6:14

They would turn out to greet him

6:16

and they saw him as this fantastic ambassador

6:18

of this new pursuit of cycling. Well,

6:20

as well as being able to ride well,

6:22

he could also really speak very convincingly.

6:24

And Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who heard Steven speak

6:26

at the Massachusetts Bicycle Club said he

6:28

seems like Jules Verne telling his own wonderful

6:30

performances, or like a contemporary Sinbad the

6:32

Sailor. Instead of going round the world with

6:34

a rifle for the purpose of killing

6:36

something, or with a bundle of tracts in

6:38

order to convert somebody, this bold youth

6:40

simply went round the world to see people

6:42

who were there on it. And I

6:44

think that really does sum up his trip.

6:46

You know, he really is just sort

6:48

of talking to people, hearing their stories, eating

6:51

lots of things actually. And picking up

6:53

a big sack full of money from

6:55

the bicycle company. So what happened is,

6:57

he was riding a 50 inch black

6:59

enameled Columbia standard bicycle with nickel plated

7:02

wheels which was made by the poke

7:04

manufacturing company of Chicago, heard his story

7:06

and agreed to sponsor him to carry

7:08

on and go around the world. So

7:10

it was about very much. communicating

7:12

that message of travel for travel's

7:14

sake and meeting people and experiencing

7:17

new cultures. But it was advertorial

7:19

for Pope's bicycle company. It was

7:21

quite a modern idea. It

7:23

was like, well, he is a young man who

7:25

perfectly exemplifies our get -go spirit. He's managed to

7:27

get across America. Let's turn this

7:29

into a giant promotional opportunity and go around

7:31

the world. He set out from Liverpool

7:33

in May 1895, cheered on by hundreds of

7:35

spectators, and accompanied by an honour guard

7:37

of 25 local cyclists. And then went to,

7:39

we'll do the country list in a

7:41

moment, but I think it's important to represent

7:43

Burkhamsted, because he was British, he was

7:45

from Burkhamsted. He went to Burkhamsted. Shout out

7:47

for the home counties. But

7:49

then on to France, Germany,

7:51

Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria,

7:53

Rumelia, and finally arrived in

7:55

Constantinople. But then it gets interesting. Anatolia,

7:58

Armenia, Kurdistan, Iraq, and

8:00

all the way to Tehran, where he

8:02

was invited to stay for the winter as a

8:05

guest in the Shah's palace. Yeah. And actually, the Shah

8:07

then puts him through a few tests, getting him

8:09

to ride fast and slow. and

8:11

then setting him off in the direction of

8:13

Wesh, the Shah definitely knew there was

8:15

a ditch. And he only just

8:17

manages to get off his bicycle. And

8:19

he says, that could have broken my

8:21

bones. And the Shah just laughs at

8:23

him. But by virtue of having then

8:26

met the Shah, he becomes this massive

8:28

celebrity, at least according to his own

8:30

account in Tehran. And he's soon known

8:32

by the title of the Asbi Sahib.

8:34

Pretty much it translates to Sir Horse

8:36

of Iron, which I think is great.

8:40

the curiosity around the bicycle, which obviously in

8:42

these rural villages had never been seen before,

8:44

slowed his journey down because every single place

8:46

he stopped people wanted a demonstration of how

8:48

the bike worked, they wanted to look at

8:50

it, wanted to try out for themselves. So

8:53

it took him a long time to

8:55

get to Russia and his original plan was

8:57

to cross Russia in the spring and

8:59

the summer season. but he was denied entry

9:01

at the border. So he came up

9:03

with this idea that he would cross Afghanistan,

9:05

which he'd been warned not to do,

9:07

and he was quickly arrested. Although once again,

9:09

this new novel contraption made him a

9:11

minor celebrity, and his imprisonment was in a

9:13

really cushy villa where he was apparently

9:15

given imported English biscuits. Yeah, but he was

9:17

still sent back to Constantinople. I mean,

9:19

he had an adventure. He's been humiliated by

9:21

the Shah and nearly had his bike

9:23

broken. Then he's failed to go through

9:25

Siberia, failed to go through Afghanistan, had to

9:27

go back to Monday, Istanbul and then get

9:29

a boat to India to carry on the

9:31

journey. So it was a big delay. Then

9:34

he cycled to Calcutta, boat to China, cycled

9:36

through China, boat to Japan, which was his

9:38

favourite, actually. Save the best to learn from

9:40

his point of view. Good place to cycle

9:42

a penny farthing apparently. Japan in 1886. So

9:45

the Odyssey finally came to an end in

9:47

Yokohama in eastern Japan, where according to his

9:49

account he had cycled about 13 ,500 miles.

9:51

This is two and a half years after

9:53

this day when he started. That's a long

9:55

time. He didn't stay quiet for long. You'd

9:57

think you might want to put your feet

9:59

up for a bit after all of this,

10:01

but almost immediately he was commissioned by the

10:04

New York World newspaper at the time to

10:06

join the search for the explorer Henry Morton

10:08

Stanley, who'd been missing in East Africa for

10:10

about a year and a half. I'm not

10:12

surprised after spending all that time both by

10:14

himself and mixing with people of different cultures

10:16

all over the world and travels addictive. Going

10:19

back to some sort of suburban life

10:21

in America would have been complete anathema, wouldn't

10:23

it? The funny thing is that that

10:25

adventurous spirit of his was ultimately his undoing

10:27

because after he'd gone and found Stanley,

10:30

he then continued to report for the paper

10:32

that he was reporting for. And

10:34

he went on to Russia, and then he

10:36

sailed the rivers of Europe, and then he

10:38

went on to investigate the miracles claimed by

10:40

Indian ascetics. And he believed

10:42

them. But his belief in them undermined

10:44

his career. And as soon as he

10:46

got back, planning to show off his

10:49

kind of photos of Indian miracles, the

10:51

whole business was greeted with this deep

10:53

skepticism and his planned tour of London

10:55

with Indian photographs that fell through. And

10:58

that was kind of the end of

11:00

his adventuring career. But then pivoted, you

11:02

know, like Shirley Temple, with whom we

11:04

started the week, had then

11:06

a later career that completely different. He

11:08

ended up being the manager of the

11:10

Garrick theatre in London. I mean,

11:12

who would predict that? He married a woman

11:15

who was the mother of two successful actresses,

11:17

one of whom's husband was involved with the

11:19

Garrick Theatre as well. And then, yeah, he

11:21

just seemed to have fade into relative obscurity.

11:23

He still wrote occasional articles about his life

11:25

and his adventures. He was pretty much

11:27

lost to history after that. But we brought him

11:29

back. When Wunder's house successfully he got on shooting

11:31

his gun at any actor that came within 200

11:33

feet of him. Tomorrow.

11:37

It's a totemic event

11:39

in marketing failure. So,

11:54

Retrospectors, what historical events are we

11:56

ticking off on this week's run of

11:58

Today in History? On Monday, the

12:00

anniversary of the day, Nintendo put a

12:02

games console in your pocket. On

12:04

Tuesday, the man who wrote a penny

12:06

-farthing around the world. On Wednesday, the

12:08

textbook marketing debacle of New Coke.

12:10

On Thursday, the explosive end of the

12:12

Ming Dynasty. And on Friday, why

12:14

Fran's list was the Elvis of the

12:16

1840s. We discuss this and more

12:18

on Today in History with the Retrospectors.

12:20

Ten minutes each weekday, wherever you

12:23

get your podcasts.