Motorcyclism

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟒, 𝟏𝟗𝟏𝟔, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬..
On this day, July 4, 1916, Adelina (27) and August Van Buren (32) began the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour by two women. They left Sheepshead Bay racetrack in Brooklyn, New York City riding 1,000 cc Indian Power Plus motorcycles equipped with gas headlights.

They arrived in Los Angeles on September 8, 1916 after having to contend with poor roads, heavy rains and mud, natural barriers like the Rocky Mountains and social barriers such as the local police who took offence at their choice of men’s clothing.

"𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙖𝙣, 𝙞𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡" – 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮 𝗩𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗻

They became the first women to reach the 14,109 feet summit of Pikes Peak by any motor vehicle. The Indians were the top of the range motorcycle at the time, selling for $275, and ran Firestone “non-skid” tires.

Despite succeeding, the sister’s application to the military as a dispatch rider was rejected. Reports in the leading motorcycling magazine of the day praised the bike, but not the sisters and described the journey as a “vacation”.

Other newspapers published degrading articles accusing the sisters of using the national preparedness issue as an excellent excuse to escape their roles as housewives and “display their feminine counters in nifty khaki and leather uniforms”.

During their ride, they were arrested numerous times, not for speeding but for wearing men’s clothes. At one point, they became lost in the desert 100 miles west of Salt Lake City and were saved by a prospector after their water ran out. They completed their ride by traveling across the border to Tijuana in Mexico.

Both women eventually married. Adeline continued her career as an educator, and earned her law degree from New York University. Augusta became a pilot, flying in Amelia Earhart’s Ninety-Nines international women’s flying organization having played significant roles in the women’s rights movement.

The previous year had seen Effie Hotchkiss and her mother Avis travelling 9,000 miles on a Harley-Davidson V-twin with sidecar from New York on 3 May 1915 to San Francisco in mid-August, and back.

𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥
In 1988, the sisters incredible achievement was celebrated by four women members of the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) with the "Van Buren Transcon", a fund-raising effort for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

In 2002, the sisters were inducted into the AMA's Motorcycle Hall of Fame and into the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame during 2003.

Photo attribution: Wikipedia
Learn more https://www.vanburensisters.com

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