Annie began her trip on a 42-pound drop-frame (women’s) Columbia bicycle ill-suited for long-distance travel, and attired in long skirts. When she reached Chicago in September 1894, the Sterling Cycle Works of Chicago offered her a men’s Sterling weighing approximately 21 pounds. The men's frame meant that riding in skirts was no longer feasible and Annie took to wearing bloomers, and later a men’s riding suit. The Sterling, like the Columbia, had a single gear and no free-wheel mechanism, which meant if the wheels were spinning the pedals were spinning, too. But unlike the Columbia, the Sterling had no brake. The device on the front wheel is a cyclometer, an odometer for bicycles. An American diplomat in Paris gave Annie the American flag wrapped around the frame. This photograph of Annie's bike was taken in San Francisco in early spring 1895.