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Ever since he was a kid, W. D. Rishel was captivated by speed, endurance, competition, feats of derring-do and strategy ­— most having to do with getting from here to there. Born in 1869 in Punxsutawney, Pa., Rishel traveled westward with his family — his father was in the carpentry trade ­— before soloing into Salt Lake City.

A newsie for the Omaha Bee in Nebraska, the youngster used his fists to hold onto the best selling street corner. In Fort Collins, Colo., he rode his own horse, carried a .22 pistol in a rough-hewn holster, and ate wild game. In Cheyenne, Wyo., he became a backyard acrobat with dreams of joining the circus. During high school, he worked out at a gym, became a heavyweight boxer, contended in long distance swimming and temporarily shoveled coal for the Union Pacific Railroad.

He then caught "handlebar fever" and joined the Cheyenne Bicycle Club.

Cheyenne, famous for its hard-packed ground and ferocious winds, was a mecca for bicyclists. According to his daughter Virginia Rishel, in "Wheels to Adventure," Rishel rarely turned down a race. Challenged to ride a mile in under two minutes with a "stiff wind behind him," club members selected a level road at Fort Russell and marked off the mile-course.

Citing her father's account, the wheelmen "placed a signal man at the start and end of the mile, and a man with stopwatch in the middle to take my time." The young cyclist took a deep breath and set off. Completing the run in just over one minute and 54 secconds, Rishel earned the sobriquet "Big Bill," and never looked back.

In 1895, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound, 25-year-old with thick dark hair, square chin, and deep-set eyes set out for Salt Lake City where bicycle fever was in the air. He published a bicycle magazine, joined the cycling milieu that included railroad magnate Simon Bamberger and mine operator John Beck and was soon operating and promoting their new venture: Beck's Hot Springs Bicycle Track. Riding in its first exhibition race, Rishel and Denver cyclist Harry Croll delivered Utah's first world's bicycle record.

In 1896, newspaper publisher and owner of the San Francisco Examiner and the New York Journal, William Randolph Hearst — an avid bicyclist — joined bicycle maker Stearns Manufacturing Co. to sponsor a 3,500-mile coast-to-coast relay race.

Toting a Hearst publicity packet, 200 riders were expected to enter the contest, cover 300 miles a day, and make the trip from San Francisco to New York in 12 days.

Hearst contacted Rishel to organize the first leg of the trip into Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Despite warnings of it being "suicidal," Rishel chose a route crossing Utah's challenging and volatile salt-and-mud west desert south of the Great Salt Lake into Salt Lake City. Most people thought he was mad. Ogden wheelmen were fit to be tied: a southern route would take their city out of the running.

In mid-July, Rishel and local cyclist Charlie Emise, took a test run. Packing several sandwiches and two Army canteens of water they traveled by train to the northwest desert railroad town of Terrace. Leaving at 2 a.m. under a full moon and one on a hard-crusted salt trail, the cyclists traveled over 20 mph.

They suddenly encountered wet mud flats that instantly clogged their wheels and were forced to carry their bikes. Pressing on, they ran out of water, deciphered the map, and located the slow-dripping Cook's Spring near the Lakeside Mountains.

They passed skeletons of abandoned wagons and mule skulls. Marshes full of rampant mosquitoes greeted them at the Great Salt Lake. Twenty-two hours and 100 miles later, the weary duo entered Grantsville in the southeast corner of the desert.

Undeterred, Rishel devised a strategy using the same southern route but providing enough water, rations, canvas shading, and substitute riders. The Ogden wheelmen had another plan.

Eileen Hallet Stone, author of "Hidden History of Utah," a compilation of her Salt Lake Tribune columns, may be reached at ehswriter@aol.com. Source: Virginia Rishel's "Wheels to Adventure: Bill Rishel's Western Routes."