On June 20, 1897, The Salt Lake Tribune opined: “Not many years ago the bicycle was looked upon as a mere toy, a kind of dandy-horse, and the riders were regarded as fit subjects for pity. That time, however, is a thing of the past.” The paper was not just talking about the growing trend of bicycle clubs forming throughout the nation, but about a specific, and rather extraordinary, bicycle trip.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.