In May of 1894, the New York Times ran a short and somewhat gruesome item about the death of a cyclist in the deserts of Armenia.
Frank Lenz's body, riddled with bullets, turned up in a stream; his bike, meanwhile, had been dismembered and reportedly picked over for silver by his killers.
The 25-year-old, an adventure-seeking bookkeeper inspired by the invention of the safety bicycle, had already pedaled from New York to San Francisco and across China, India, Burma, and Persia before he was murdered.
If it wasn't the valuables from his bike his killers wanted, then it's possible he died simply because of the strangeness of his chosen mode of transportation. According to one account, the natives in the region were arguing about whether the interloper was a man or a devil. To resolve the question, one of them shot him repeatedly to see if hew would die, and he did.
Metro region cyclists can learn more about Lenz's recklessly tragic tale on Wednesday at Revolution Cycles in Arlington. Author and historian David Herlihy will be on hand to discuss and read from his new book about Lenz: The Lost Cyclist. You can brush up on Lenz with these articles from Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and Adventure Cyclist.
I'll be there, and I plan to bring my voice recorder.
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