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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 across this same ford- on a regular bicycle- the previous week. Ed and myself are fairly experienced Penny-Farthing cyclists- Ed has 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 have some significant experience riding Penny-Farthings. And even then it’s probably a good idea to walk your Penny-Farthing across a ford 😉
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 probabaly about 20 MPH, using both the spoon brake & leg braking I was able to reduce the speed enough to enable me to dismount. You can see why you need to be able to master speed moderation and dismounting before you take to road cycling a Penny-Farthing. Wreck at 20 MPH on a Penny-Farthing at that speed and the likely outcome would probably be death, or at least very serious injury. But if you follow the golden rule to never cycle faster than you could stop & dismount, you’ll never have a problem.
20 Examples of dangerous driving- assessed against the Highway Code- you can expect to see road cycling a Penny-Farthing. The Highway Code Rules a group of motorists violate is cited at beginning of a section and additional Rules violated at the end of each 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 get home for dinner a minute earlier or buy a vape, scratch card and a packet of crisps at their local Qwickie Mart. 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- no where 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 witnesses.