George B. (George Burton) Thayer

George B. Thayer, short for George Burton Thayer, was an American writer born in 1853 and remembered especially for Pedal and Path: Across the Continent Awheel and Afoot. That book grew out of his long bicycle journey across the United States and helped preserve the feel of nineteenth-century touring at a moment when cycling was still new and adventurous.

Records of his work show that he wrote not only travel narrative but also family history, including Ancestors of Adelbert P. Thayer, Florine Thayer McCray and Geo. Burton Thayer. Other cataloged works connect him with military reminiscence as well, including a history of Company K of the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.

Modern readers usually meet him through his travel writing, which is valued for its firsthand picture of roads, landscapes, and everyday encounters on the wheel. He died in 1928, leaving behind books that blend memoir, local history, and the spirit of practical adventure.