The youngest person to bicycle across the United States
In 1973, 11-year-old Becky Gorton bicycled from Olympia, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts in 47 days. She was accompanied by her entire family. Though her dad (who was attorney general of Washington) got hit by a car en route, so he had to complete part of the journey in a car.
The feat earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person ever to bicycle coast-to-coast. But since then Guinness seems to have stopped tracking this record. Probably because it didn't want to encourage ever younger children to attempt the feat.
However, younger people definitely have subsequently biked across the country. Though it's difficult to say who's officially the current record holder.
In 2014, 9-year-old C.J. Burford got some publicity for biking cross-country. But I don't think he set the record because in 1995 8-year-old Starr Moss was reported as having biked across the country with his 13-year-old brother.
The SF Chronicle article about their feat never mentioned that Starr set a record. So perhaps there's someone even younger who managed to do it.
If this is the same Starr Moss, he's now, appropriately, working as a "Bike Share Planner" for Lyft.
Becky Gorton and her family at the end of their trip.
Longview Daily News - July 21, 1973
The feat earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person ever to bicycle coast-to-coast. But since then Guinness seems to have stopped tracking this record. Probably because it didn't want to encourage ever younger children to attempt the feat.
However, younger people definitely have subsequently biked across the country. Though it's difficult to say who's officially the current record holder.
In 2014, 9-year-old C.J. Burford got some publicity for biking cross-country. But I don't think he set the record because in 1995 8-year-old Starr Moss was reported as having biked across the country with his 13-year-old brother.
The SF Chronicle article about their feat never mentioned that Starr set a record. So perhaps there's someone even younger who managed to do it.
If this is the same Starr Moss, he's now, appropriately, working as a "Bike Share Planner" for Lyft.
Comments
Slade Gorton later served two non-consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate. He was related to the founders of the seafood firm Gorton's of Gloucester, hence his final stop on the bicycle trip.
Posted by ges on 08/01/24 at 02:38 PM
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles | World Records | 1970s