Salt Lake Telegram | 1933-10-17 | Page 5 | Pioneers on Bicycle

onu SALT LAKE SKETCHES IlBa ES Pioneers on on- Bicycle Salt Laker Lakei Recalls Blazing Trail Across Western Desert 4 c I 4 r rS rI I S l gf E r 4 i In 1896 W. W V. V D. D Rishel was a L noted bike rider r and helped blaze blare a bike riders' riders trail from San Francisco to Salt Lake At left a as he looked then and right a as he be looks today as secretary of the Utah tah Slate State Automobile Automobile Auto Auto- mobile association Auto I Airplanes covering the distance between San Francisco and Salt Sale Lake in less than six hours recall to W. W D D. Bill Rishel manager of the tho Utah State Automobile association the time that he sp spent nt as many weeks locating the first bicycle route between the same tIlt lit was back in 1896 when William Randolph Hearst new newspaper paPer pub pub- Usher isher conceived the idea of I a a. trans continental relay bicycle dispatch that t tI I was as c called upon to lay ay out a route between Salt I Lake ke and San Francisco Francs o oby by y wa way of Reno Nev Mr Rishel said aid With completion of th the first trans continental railroad the old pioneer trails rails and wagon routes to the coast coust had iad been abam abandoned and forgotten so 00 sot it t fell lell to my ray lot to locate a new and more direct route for tor bicycle riders riders- BEGINS TRIP Starting out on my bicycle I bean be gan an the trip into inlo the little known western regions After many weeks a of f hardships and privations I reached Truckee Cat CaL where I met a a. group of riders iders who had bl blazed zed the trail from the le Pacific coast into the Sierra mountains r On the westward scouting trip Bill wh who vho was then only only 26 26 took the north north- em ern rn route around Great Salt lal lake the lake the e the old Id Fort Hall road But like those who vho had gone before belore this route seemed to nc necessitate too much of ot a detour to the north Returning from Truckee he followed the general route oute o of the railroad along the Humboldt Hum Hum- boldt river but decided to save time and mileage by riding across the salt desert instead of around it Starting from Terrace a station on the he railroad Bill with a companion began egan the first and only trip across the ic salt desert an on n bicycles They car car- ned ried two army array can canteens ns each and some sandwiches It seemed to the young rIders Iders that this would be the easiest part of ot their journey journy as the desert appeared perfectly level and the surface sur- sur lace face ace was covered with willi a hard crust of f sal salt t. t FIND HARDSHIPS However during the trip were en- en countered many hardships Mr R ishel shel explained As we moved on the he salt crust gave way and the wheels of ot our bicycles became clogged with mud so that we had to dismount and nd wade Our water ran out and for fora a while we tho thought we were doomed However after alter many days of hardship we sighted lights of the Saltair pavilion pavil pavil- ion on and rode steadily hours hour covering a distance o of miles After the trail was blazed the transcontinental transcontinental trans trans- continental relay race was run run with 00 riders taking part The Tho distance between the east cast and west coast was I covered in 11 days fastest time ever I Imade made by man power or animal I Although Mr Rishel was one of the west's vests best riders in those days he I says he would not make the same trip under inder the same conditions for lor a million milion mil mil- triP lion ion dollars now