Peggy Thomas bought her B.S.A. Bantam, a rigid-framed D1, in 1950.
She immediately named it Oppy after its registration number, OPE 811.
Within a few weeks she set off on a 4,500 mile tour around Scandinavia accompanied by her friend, Prudence Beggs.
Peggy's most famous journey though was an 18 month, 14,000 mile epic in North America.
She took her 60lb Airedale dog, Matelot, along, ensconced in a makeshift box on the Bantam's parcel rack. Starting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the pair traversed Canada to Vancouver on the Pacific coast then headed south down the West Coast of the United States.
Crossing into Mexico, Peggy and Matelot travelled as far as Mexico City before heading for the Atlantic coast and taking a steamer to Florida. After an extended stay on the Florida Quays, Peggy's journey ended with a ride north to New York. She carried a typewriter with her for the entire journey and wrote this now extremely scarce travelogue about her adventure.
... 425£
