Annie Londonderry was born in 1870 as Annie Cohen in Latvia. In 1875, she moved with her parents and older siblings to the United States and became a citizen. Her family settled in Boston, MA. Shortly after they arrived, her parents died, and she took care of her younger siblings. In 1888, Annie married Max Kopchovsky, a peddler, and had three children with him within four years. While married, Annie sold advertising space for several daily Boston newspapers.

The Bet

It is thought that Annie was the mastermind behind creating a story of a bet where men bet between $5,000 and $10,000 that no woman could travel around the world by bicycle. In 1887, Thomas Stevens was the first person to bicycle around the world so they knew that it could be done. This combined with the 1890s crazy for biking which gave women some independence contributed to making this happen.

Why Annie?

No one is sure why she was chosen to take on this challenge. She seemed like an unlikely candidate. Not only did she not know how to ride a bike, but she was a small woman, was a married mother of three and was Jewish at a time and location where there were extreme anti-Semitism views.

Sponsorship:

She was able to make money on this trip by getting sponsors. One example is where she was paid $100 to change her name from Annie Kopchovsky to Annie Londonderry and have a plaque on the back of the bike advertising Londonderry Spring Water.

The Trip:

Her 15-month journey around the world took her through the United States. She had to turn around early in the trip because bad weather would be hitting the plain states. The bet said that she had to journey around the world, but it didn’t say that she couldn’t use the assistance of boats. She traveled through much of the Middle East, the Orient and France by boat often taking short excursions through each place she went. Time was growing short so she returned from the Orient to San Francisco. She thought that the last leg of the journey would be an easy one but she found that there were several challenges. The roads weren’t set up for the bike journey and she was involved in several accidents as she encountered run away wagons and groups of pigs.

Winning the Bet!

Annie made it back to Boston, MA where she collected her $10,000 bet. This was a significant amount of money because at the time, the average salary was $1,000 per year. She moved her family to New York City and began a journalism career with New York World, starting her career with an account of her journey. A few years later, she retired to raise her family.

Later Career:

Not a lot is known about Annie after her retirement. What we do know is that sometime after her adventure she had a fourth child, spent some additional time away from her family, started a small clothing business and remained married to her husband until she died in 1947.

REFERENCES

"A Woman to Rival Paul Jones" (PDF). New York Times. February 25, 1894. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

"First woman to cycle the globe begins journey". Jewish Women's Archive. 25 June 1894. Retrieved September 21, 2016.

Backstory: Chasing Annie Londonderry: Part 1 Zheutlin, Peter. Christian Science Monitor. 28 August 2006. Retrieved 6 March 2019.

Zheutlin, Peter. "Chasing Annie: The Woman Who Changed My Life Was Brave, Cunning, Daring And Free -- And I Never Met Her" (PDF). Bicycling (May 2005): 64–69.

"Miss Londonderry's Trip Ended" (PDF). New York Times. September 25, 1895. Retrieved December 12, 2016.

"SPIN". Evalyn Parry. Retrieved October 7, 2013.

Nestruck, J. Kelly (March 17, 2011). "Spin: An ode to two-wheeling in time for spring". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

Movies:

The New Woman: Annie Londonderry Kopchovsky

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2493030/

Check out the trailer here:

https://vimeo.com/60861003

Books:

Around the World on Two Wheels

https://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Two-Wheels-Extraordinary/dp/1400155479

Wheels Change Women Bicycle Freedom

https://www.amazon.com/Wheels-Change-Women-Bicycle-Freedom/dp/1426328559/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V5SSB51XZR2ZVTFBZQV0

Great Articles:

Chasing Annie http://www.annielondonderry.com/images/BI05ANNIE.pdf

Annie Londonderry First Women to Cycle Around the World

http://mentalfloss.com/article/72276/retrobituaries-annie-londonderry-first-woman-cycle-around-world