October 2, 2025
By Tom Ewing
In a week when media attention is focused on activity (or inactivity) in the US Congress, it seems a fitting time to revisit one of the most famous photographs in American cycling history. Entitled, “A Perilous Ride,” this 1884 photograph by the Platt Brothers depicts Will Robertson riding down the steps of the US Capital. During the 1880s, Robertson was well known in Washington and beyond for his trick bicycling skills. In addition to balancing acts, he regularly participated in bicycle polo, often winning sums of money in contests drawing spectators and newspaper coverage.
In 1886, just a year or two after riding down the steps of the Capital, Robertson took on a different challenge by riding his bicycle across the wall of the Cabin John Bridge. According to a Washington Post report (August 30, 1886, p. 2), several local cyclists determined that a report of someone riding a bicycle across the coping of the bridge was in fact “a mere hoax, originating in a joke.” Robertson then decided to complete the feat himself by crossing the entire 300 feet of the bridge on a surface only 15 inches wide and at times 125 feet above the rocky gorge below. “Moving slowly and in an almost straight line Robertson proceeded to the middle of the bridge, where for an instant he swayed slightly toward the outside, but quickly recovering kept on and passed the most dangerous point. On nearing the further end he tipped his little wheel up, and with a short ride on one wheel, dismounted backwards safely, having crossed in three minutes.” The final line of the article states that Robertson “now feels such confidence in his wheel that he may repeat the performance for the purpose of being photographed in the act.” While no record of a photograph has been discovered, a drawing attributed to Bicycle News does depict a cyclist crossing the bridge coping, with the caption: “A Foolhardy Feat.”
The Bikecenntenial route did not go through Washington, DC, but some cyclists extended their rides to sightsee in cities off the route. Bill Riley decided to ride his bicycle from his home in Long Island to the starting point in Yorktown, seeing sights along the route. He flipped over his handlebars in Philadelphia, “a victim of parked cars and bumps in the road,” and “but had some trouble” in Fredericksburg with wet pavement, but “I had a nice day riding around Washington.”
Fredericksburg Free Lance Star, May 13, 1976, pp. 13-14
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