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This is the first of three parts about six incredible women from the golden age of motorcycling.
We start off with 21 year old Effie Hotchkiss and her mother Avis. The year was 1915 and even though she had a good job working on Wall Street she got a hankering to see the worlds fair.Only trouble was the fair was in San Francisco and she was in New York.
So she took her savings and a small inheritance and bought a twin cylinder Harley Davidson model 11-F with a sidecar. This was a 11hp bike with a three speed transmission.
Meanwhile since she could not talk her out of it her mother Avis decided to come along.So the two packed up the bike and went down to the beach and filled a mason jar full of Atlantic Ocean water and set out for the west coast.
Now to be sure there was not a lot of paved roads in those days. But as they made there way west they made stops in Cleveland,Chicago,Davenport,Omaha,Salt Lake City,Reno,Santa Fe and finely San Francisco. Along the way they battled extremes of heat and cold and mechanical break downs. Out of tubes the pair once fixed a flat tire with a cut up blanket stuffed into the tire.
Once they got there Effie drove down to the beach and dipped the front tire in the Pacific Ocean and poured out the mason jar filled with Atlantic.
Then they went to the fair. While in San Francisco Effie met her future husband when he stepped of the side walk and she ran into him with the bike.
Then these two intrepid women packed back up and rode the bike back to New York.
Witch made them the first people to make a round trip coast to coast to coast on a motorcycle.
They sure don't make them like that no more.
*************KYNITB******************************G************************
We start off with 21 year old Effie Hotchkiss and her mother Avis. The year was 1915 and even though she had a good job working on Wall Street she got a hankering to see the worlds fair.Only trouble was the fair was in San Francisco and she was in New York.
So she took her savings and a small inheritance and bought a twin cylinder Harley Davidson model 11-F with a sidecar. This was a 11hp bike with a three speed transmission.
Meanwhile since she could not talk her out of it her mother Avis decided to come along.So the two packed up the bike and went down to the beach and filled a mason jar full of Atlantic Ocean water and set out for the west coast.
Now to be sure there was not a lot of paved roads in those days. But as they made there way west they made stops in Cleveland,Chicago,Davenport,Omaha,Salt Lake City,Reno,Santa Fe and finely San Francisco. Along the way they battled extremes of heat and cold and mechanical break downs. Out of tubes the pair once fixed a flat tire with a cut up blanket stuffed into the tire.
Once they got there Effie drove down to the beach and dipped the front tire in the Pacific Ocean and poured out the mason jar filled with Atlantic.
Then they went to the fair. While in San Francisco Effie met her future husband when he stepped of the side walk and she ran into him with the bike.
Then these two intrepid women packed back up and rode the bike back to New York.
Witch made them the first people to make a round trip coast to coast to coast on a motorcycle.
They sure don't make them like that no more.
*************KYNITB******************************G************************
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