author
H. Darwin McIlrath
A globe-circling bicycle trip turned into a lively late-19th-century travel narrative full of movement, curiosity, and close-up glimpses of places many readers of the time would never see. Best known for chronicling an ambitious journey with his wife, he wrote with the eye of a newspaper correspondent and the energy of an adventurer.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Remembered for Around the World on Wheels, for The Inter Ocean (1898), this American travel writer documented a remarkable bicycle journey taken with his wife, Hattie McIlrath. The trip began in Chicago in April 1895 and was sponsored by the Inter Ocean, for which he sent back letters describing the couple’s experiences on the road.
Those dispatches were later gathered into a book that follows the pair across multiple countries and cultures. What makes the writing stand out is its mix of travel adventure, everyday observation, and the enthusiasm of the 1890s cycling craze.
Not much biographical information appears to be widely documented beyond the journey and the book itself. Even so, his work has lasted because it captures both the excitement of early long-distance travel by bicycle and a vivid moment in newspaper and travel-writing history.