Two young women set off on an incredible journey in 1916 -- sisters Augusta and Adeline Van Buren began the first successful transcontinental motorcycle tour across the U.S. by two women on solo motorcycles. They rode 5,500 miles in 60 days often over unpaved roads while traveling from NYC to Tijuana, Mexico. The imminent entrance of the U.S. into WWI inspired the sisters' feat as they sought to prove that women could ride as well as men and were capable of serving as military dispatch riders. The women dressed in military-style leggings and leather riding breeches which were taboo at that time for women and, as a result, they were arrested several times along the way for wearing men's clothing. Yet, these two inspirational trailblazers were undaunted. As Augusta famously once stated, “Woman can if she will.” Following their historic journey, both women continued to be trailblazers -- Adeline went on to earn a law degree at New York University while Augusta became a pilot and joined Amelia Earhart's international women's flying organization the Ninety-Nines. Augusta also became active in the women's rights movement fighting to win women the right to vote. For an excellent book about more adventurous real-life women, we highly recommend "A World Of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers" for ages 12 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/a-world-of-her-own For more true stories of women adventurers for children and teens, visit our “Explorers & Adventurers” biography section at https://amgrl.co/2u7QBeZ For fictional stories starring adventurous girls and women, visit our “Action & Adventure” section at https://www.amightygirl.com/books/fiction/action-adventure
