Addams is reenacting a 1903 trek across America, following the original itinerary
of George Wyman, who rode a motor bicycle equipped with a 1.5hp engine 4,000
miles from San Francisco to New York City. (Details of the original expedition
were highlighted in last week's edition of The Ogden Reporter, page one).

Much of Wyman's route was impassable, so he thumped along on the cross-ties of the fairly-new
at the time, transcontinental railroad. Today, Addams is able to motor bike the Highway
30 corridor from coast-to-coast and that lets him experience a lot of small-town life.

Of Ogden he said, "We had fun today in Ogden. The folks at the MX shop were terrific
and we didn't have to go farther than three blocks for anything we needed for the
bike, to have lunch, and for the support team to do the laundry. Everything was super!"

His motorized bicycle requires little pedaling, only to get the engine started, and when
asked about comfort, Addams stated that "it's not bad if you have a seat that's made right."

Ogdenites looked forward to seeing him motor into town, but a breakdown just
outside of town forced him to load his bike and hitch a ride in the support
vehicle driven by his dad, Bob Brown. Brown became the designated support
person when the original driver had to drop out at the last minute.

Bob Brown, Rif Addams dad, is accompanying his son as the
designated support person for Rif's 2003 journey across America.
-Photo by Kathy Pierce

Riding on a 1905 period frame bicycle mounted with a 2003 Whizzer slip - clutch
bicycle engine, Addams can cover about 100 miles on a tank of gas, traveling
an average speed of 30-35 miles an hour. He left San Francisco Thursday, May
15 and reached Ogden almost four weeks later, close to the halfway mark.

"Why is he doing it?" He's doing it as a tribute to another young gentleman
from the West Coast who did exactly the same thing 100 years ago. The biggest
difference is that in 1903, the year of the Wright Brothers` first flight,
there were hardly any paved roads west of New York City, and gravel had yet
to be discovered in most parts of the country."

The Ogden Reporter © 2003
HTML Compliments Of Guido For Rif Raff Productions And Whizzer Motors © 2003