Raleigh Bicycle, ca 1949

The Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England, produced this Raleigh brand bicycle around 1949.

This bicycle was ridden by Mr. Alvaro Zabala from Bogota, Colombia to New York City form January to June 1950. On January 3, 1950 Alvaro Zabala left Bogota, Colombia, on this bicycle, and headed for New York City. After pedaling through Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the Mississippi Valley, and Ontario, Canada, he reached New York City five months later on June 2nd. It is estimated that about 8,000 miles were covered during the trip. Subsequently, Mr. Zabala pedaled the bicycle to Washington, where he presented the bicycle to the museum. Small flags of the 10 countries through which Mr. Zabala travelled are draped from the handlebars to the saddle.

Currently not on view