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Traversing Fords on Penny-Farthings: Although Ed and I make it look easy, there’s a reason all the other Penny-Farthing cyclists are walking their bikes across the ford: it is dangerous- even on a regular bicycle. Under the water the path is cobbled and the stones are slick and uneven. Seriously, it was all I could do to avoid wrecking in this video. Andy- the host of the social cycle- told us a woman broke her hip cycling a standard bicycle across this same ford the previous week. Ed (RIP) and myself are fairly experienced Penny-Farthing cyclists- Ed had over 40 years experience. But unless you’re confident of your skills, remember: you dry faster than you heal. Walk your PF across fords until you at least have some significant experience riding Penny-Farthings.
“How Not to Pass Cyclists 101” Series on Being Dangerously Passed
The most common risk that cyclists probably face daily when road cycling is by being dangerously passed by aggressive drivers. I’ve found having a REAR-mounted camera which is HIGHLY VISIBLE to trailing motorists has the effect of materially reducing close/dangerous passes. Another way that I mitigate dangerous passess is that I wave-on trailing motorists whenever possible at the first safe opportunity so I have control over HOW, WHERE & WHEN I’m passed. Also, being friendly can reduce being dangerously passed: I cycle the same few routes and make it a point to give a friendly wave to motorists. Drivers who like you are more likely to drive more courteously. Sometimes one’s patience can be tested to breaking point though 😉
Although you can moderate the degree/frequency of being dangerously passed, if you road cycle ANY bicycle, you’ll encounter aggressive, impatient drivers. These motorists don’t take any account of the fact that your head is 8-9 feet above the road surface; they’re just as indifferent to your safety as any other road cyclist. I’ll post interesting dangerous passes below.
“How Not to Pass Cyclists 101” Example #1
“How Not to Pass Cyclists 101” Example #2
“How Not to Pass Cyclists 101” Example #3
Trailing Driver Passes at high speed and brakes sharply in front of you:
This is a bad one. If you see somebody passing you when you’re approaching a juncture, roundabout or point where road narrows, you better start IMMEDIATELY reducing speed to increase your following distance…
Moderating Speed & Dismounting: The above video really illustrates the necessity of being able to effectively moderate speed & dismounting quickly when road cycling a Penny-Farthing. I was cycling ~20 MPH on a (fairly) straight road with clear visibility both in terms of weather and line-of-sight due to the road being bordered on both sides by farmland so you can see approaching traffic easily from a great distance. What could possibly go wrong?!?!? Well, you can never discount the possibility of danger caused by irrational, aggressive drivers. Both Ray Charles & Stevie Wonder could have seen the (2) approaching cars were almost at the point where the road narrows to a single lane. Except the April Fool- this incident actually occurred on April Fool’s Day- in the white van apparently. Although I was steaming along ~20 MPH, I was able to reduce the speed enough using both the spoon brake & leg braking to enable me to dismount. You can see the necessity of mastering speed moderation & dismounting before you begin road cycling a Penny-Farthing. But if you follow the golden rule to never cycle faster than you could stop & dismount, you’ll never have a problem.
Being Undertaken in a Roundabout:
This is an instance where signalling actually caused the dangerous situation. The trailing motorist saw me signal left to go down a road with few passing opportunities at this hour of the morning. So determined they were not going to be “stuck” behind me attempted to beat me to the exit. Which of course I really wasn’t expecting; imagine my shock when I began to exit the roundabout and realized there was a car next to me. I had to swerve slightly to let the selfish driver pass and then exit. In order to commit the offense- he was referred to the Police- he had to not only ignore the hashed markings, but also the LEFT turn signal of another road user. Absolutely one of the more brazen, selfish and dangerous pieces of driving and I’ve seen a lot. This was nuts:
20 Examples of Dangerous Driving:
Here are (20) examples of careless/agressive driving assessed against the Highway Code. The Highway Code Rules a the motorist violates is cited at beginning of a section and additional Rules they violated are cited at the end of each clip in the video.
Cycling on a regular bicycle on UKs roads is dangerous enough. Don’t believe for a moment that aggressive motorists will show any greater care for your safety riding a Penny-Farthing. The fact that your head is 8+ feet above the road surface and if they interfere with you there’s a good chance serious injury or death will be of no concern to these selfish nitwits. Your safety will ALWAYS be trumped by their selfish need to arrive home for dinner a minute earlier or travel to the Quickie Mart to buy a vape, scratch card and a packet of crisps. In one of the video vignettes, a “murderist”, erm “motorist”, actually cuts across a mini-roundabout to intentionally strike me. Another comes with inches of striking me with their wing mirror down a country lane. In yet another segment a motorist comes comes within inches of striking me after passing dangerously. The videos cover both roads as well as country lanes- nowhere are you safe from these selfish people. The only real defense is cycling in a group AND with a cycle cam. People tend to restrain their worst instincts when there’s an abundance of evidence of their bad behaviour.