The Last Ride of Frank Lenz
In 1892,
its equally-sized wheels provided more stability
than the high-wheel models that had domi-
one of
nated the previous decade, and newly-invented
America’s early cyclists set
inflatable tires added a more cushioned ride
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
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.”
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