Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-05-31
Rider Tells OF
LONG TRIP MADE
ON MOTORCYCLE
Youth Goes From San Diego
to New York in IL Days
Careful Preparation Made
for Trip.

Local motorcyclists are greatly inter-
ested in the remarkable record of Err
win G. Baker. who rode a motorcycle
from San Diego, Cal, to New York
in II days. Riders here claim his trip
has demonstrated beyond any question
of doubt the motorcycle Is here to stay
as a distance machine and will, In the
future, be used to a much greater ex-
tent for long distance travel than 1t
ever has before. Baker broke the coast
to coast record. In an interview he
said:
while I arrived in New York City
at midnight May IA, clipping approx
mately nine days from the previous
record, according to
my way of thinking, l really achieved
the feat four months before.
what l mean by that is, thorough
preparation and endless calculation
preceding the trip is what brought me
through.
First, l laid out my route--a matter
Of no small Importance in selecting
roads and towns through which to pass.
Then, having done this, l enlisted the
cooperation Of a weather expert and
together we examined weather condi-
tons over my chosen territory for 10
years past. Analysis showed that, con-
trary to general opinion, May was the
best month for me to undertake a
coast-to-coast ride on motorcycle. So,
relying on the weather's past perform
a1ces, 1 determined to start in May,
leaving San Diego on the third at IL
O'Clock, eastern time. The weather ran
true to form and l did not hit rain
until after | had gotten east of the
Mississippi valley, at which point l
struck gravelly roads, which absorbed
moisture readily and gave me minimum
trouble. This was just as had planned.
followed behind a storm area trailing
from west to east and struck no storm
until another one finally caught up
with me. During the rainy period I
covered one stage of 70 miles through
wind and water in hour and 55 min
utes
Avoided Fuel Trouble.
Another matter of foresight which
helped me was the planting Of tanks
of gasoline ahead of me at remote
spots where l knew that no gas would
be obtainable Thus l avoided fuel
troubles.
still another factor, of course. was
my machine / rode a 1914 7-horse-
power Twin Two Speed Indian with
,eetric equipment and cradle spring
frame. In all the distance of 3497 miles
had no mechanical difficulties what
ever and l encountered all the different
road conditions known to travel.
Between Mammoth, Cal, and
Glames I rode "a miles-on the rail
road ties, crossing trestles and bridges
I'm 1o27-mile desert stretch OF
sand. cactus, heat, thirst and DESC
lateness l Travelled 115 miles without
seeing a single Ewing thing-except
ella monsters and snakes.
-Four mountain ranges were nego.
t,ated. At one point at the northern
end of Arizona ! climbed from 20t
feet below sea level to an altitude o
| 9647 feet into the mountain SHOWS
1t was in this mountain work that tn,
two speed showed its supreme quail
ties, My brake power, too. In making
the precipitous descent of the windini
/
moment If 1t had l might not b,
able now to tell this story
when / struck Indiana the authori
ties raised the speed limit for one da!
so that l could do my best. And
did, making 376 miles in 111b hours
am a Hoosier and the welcome ant
encouragement which the people o
my home state cave me as I pass et
from town to town was a generous
and appreciated demonstration.
From Columbus, O., to Greensburs
Pa, the going was bad. / ploughe,
my way through 232 miles of mud
and was mighty glad to get out of
onto firm ground again.
my final dash was a 41S-mile on
from Greensburg, Pa, to New Yorl
City. This / did in 20 hours, 16 o
which was actual riding.
Total time for the trip was IL day
II hours and 10 minutes. during whicl
took only 46 hours sleep-about fou
hours per day. Average mileage pc
day was 304.
II took along an extra electric ligh
bulb, expecting to need it with sucl
hard riding. But I arrived in New
York with the original bulb still Il
It's socket and burning brightly. M
batteries were still in fine condition
and needed no recharging or atten
ton during the ride.
In my estimation, 1t was the cradl
spring frame above all that contrib
uted to my success Ii absorbed a.
road shocks and vibrat ions and this
of course, saved all my strength anC