In 1894, the 15th annual meeting of the League of American Wheelmen was to be held in Denver, Colorado, and someone had an idea that would effectively demonstrate the potential of the bicycle as a means of urgent delivery. That idea was to send a message from the President in Washington, to the Governor of Colorado, in the shortest time possible, and a team of cyclists was assembled to do this in a relay fashion not unlike that used in the Fresno-San Francisco Bicycle Mail just a month earlier. The primary organizer of the relay was the Illinois Division of the LAW, but as the route ran through their states, the assistance of the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado Divisions was required, not only for organizational purposes, but for recruiting able-bodied riders as well.
Ultimately, 469 riders carried the letter over the distance of 2014 miles in the then-incredible time of 6 days, 12 hours and 37 minutes on August 6-13th - 1.5 days faster than had been estimated!. Besides effectively demonstrating the speed at which bicyclists were capable of covering large distances, it demonstrated that the bicycles and components of the day were quite sturdy for their light weight, as well as waving the banner of "Good Roads" the entire way.