Black Soldiers Cycled 1,900 Miles Across the U.S., Montana to Missouri, in 1897. So He Did, Too. - NYTimes

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

In the summer of 1897, 20 Black U.S. Army infantrymen cycled 1,900 miles on fixed-gear, state-of-the-art bikes from Fort Missoula, Mont., to St. Louis. The Army ordered the grueling expedition to see whether soldiers could form a bicycle corps. Newspapers chronicled their progress as they pedaled 50 miles a day in mud and sand, through Montana’s snowy mountains and across Nebraska’s burning plains. The 41-day undertaking was a bit of lost military history until Erick Cedeño, a long-distance cyclist and a model based in Santa Monica, Calif., reenacted it in June of last year, on the expedition’s 125th anniversary.

Cedeñoadds, "They encountered increasing racism as they got farther east and south, especially in Missouri. But then when they got to St. Louis, over 10,000 people showed up to celebrate them. Some 300 cyclists rode the last few miles with them."

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Black Soldiers Cycled 1,900 Miles Across the U.S., Montana to Missouri, in 1897. So He Did, Too. - NYTimes

MoBikeFed comment: The ride of the Buffalo Soldiers is truly one of the great cycling feats in history. We need to remember and celebrate it more often!