20220723 Kent Cyclopark: Penny-Farthing.org ‘s admin is on the right

Site Admin’s Penny-Farthing Cycling Experience:

An obvious question for any visitor to this site is: “Why should I trust what you have to say about learning to ride Penny-Farthings?!?” Independent evidence of my cycling competence:

  • Thousands of miles experience road cycling a Penny-Farthing on busy roads and cities: Although Kamoot counts nearly 8,000 miles between Jan 2023 and July 2026, I started riding Penny-Farthings doing serious mileage in 2020 on a 50″ UDC. So I have probably double that number. And these miles were cycled in all weather conditions, both day & night.
  • I was a sponsored rider: I’m a former 2023-24 Brand Ambassador Owayo, one of the most popular cycling jersey companies. Most club- and probably pro– cyclists will have had their custom jerseys produced by Owayo. I cycle a gazillion miles every week and apparently end up on FB & Instagram a lot being video’ed from car windows in very random places and so was good for lots of visibility 😉
  • I’m a Highwheel Century Rider Association member: Cycling a 100 miles- a “century”– in a day is considered a milestone achievement in by most cyclists. But cycling 100 miles in 29 Celsius temps many cyclists would struggle to complete, let alone on a Penny-Farthing. I’ve cycled 100 miles in a day numerous times, but these were not official.
  • 8th Place, 2023 The Great Knutsford Race: Many consider this the toughest of all Penny-Farthing races: a gruelling 3 hour bag of hurt held once every 10 YEARS. I covered 37 miles (67 laps) in 3 hrs; 12.33/MPH. The course is tight & technically challenging. This Knutsford there were 111 racers who battled through blistering heat the 1st half & rain the 2nd half which made the course even more dangerous. I placed above all team riders- who divide the 3 hrs between the cyclists– except for the winners “Essex Ordinary Riders“. A top-10 finish at Knutsford isn’t shabby; lots of great cyclists at Knutsford. And in order to do well you have to take that back hill at-speed- and the sharp turn at the end of it– every lap for THREE HOURS. In my case that was 67 times.
  • 3rd Place, 2022 British Open Penny-Farthing Championships Race (Cyclopark, Kent). Racing involves sharing a track with other Penny-Farthings cyclists pedalling furiously and passing each other. A collision at these speeds- between 15-20 MPH- on a 5 foot high PF could result in serious injury or death. So racing Penny-Farthings at very high speeds on a track with other cyclists requires a certain minimum baseline of competence.
  • 3rd Place, 2022 British Open Penny-Farthing Championships Slalom (Cyclopark, Kent). This involves navigating obstacles- cones- at high speed. I’d say this fairly evidences technical skill navigating hazards at high speeds. Strike a cone and you’re going over the handle bars. Here’s a video of the Slalom Trial Run which present a splitscreen view of track-side video with helmet camera video navigating the obstacles.
  • 3rd Place, 2022 Penny-Farthing Hill Climb World Championships. This involves cycling a Penny Farthing up a continuously sloping (3) mile route starting on the Eastbourne Seafront to the top of Beachy Head. One part of the course has a 12% gradient- and it appears at the 2/3 point. Cyclists with standard GEARED bicycles can be seen walking them up Upper Dukes Drive. One cannot be an average cyclist and complete this epic race.
  • 3rd Place, 2022 Pickwick Penny-Farthing Race (Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, W. London). This race is 12 laps on twisty track with a long, fast straight competing with a crowded field of about 20 Penny-Farthing cyclists. It’s a fast race- the top 3 places exceed 18 MPH- where competitors have to communicate numerous lane changes to their fellow racers. Participation is by invitation and limited to experienced Penny-Farthing cyclists.
  • 2020, Mowed-down on my 50″ UDC Penny-Farthing by a Jeep SUV: This happened at 1855 on a pleasant 15 October 2020 evening at a well lit roundabout with almost zero traffic on the roads. An elderly driver slowed down as he approached and briefly stopped. Feeling sure he saw me, I proceeded to pass in front of him. But despite me wearing a Pro-Viz jacket and having flashing lights, he hadn’t… With a full burst of speed he entered the roundabout. I realized what was happening, tried to abort and go around again but he struck me before I could get clear. The PF’s spine was bent, the front wheel was bent & the (green) tire came off, but I survived without a scratch. I guess all those years as a military parachutist doing PLFs (“Parachute Landing Falls”) paid off 😉. Hence the big emphasis on road cycling safety on the site and my desire to pass-on my accumulated experience. As for the elderly driver, I let him slide: it wasn’t the product of aggressive driving, but an accident. He paid my damages, so there was no need to get formal on him.

My first Penny-Farthing was a “QU-AX” with a 36″ pressurized tire. Although smaller than a proper Penny-Farthing, the mechanics of mounting, dismounting and cycling it were (roughly) the same as a full-size Penny-Farthing. So I learned the fundamentals  on a smaller 36″ PF before graduating to a full-sized 50″ UDC PF model that I train & race with now. If you watch 2023 The Great Knutsford Race video in the link above, you’ll see a little Penny-Farthing; this is a 36″ QU-AX.

So I’ve earned my bones road cycling & racing Penny-Farthings.

Site Admin’s Social Media Handles & Links:

If you want to subscribe to my Rumble Channel where I post Penny-Farthing Racing & Safety videos or follow my Penny-Farthing cycles & cycling rants on social media:

Kamoot: “PennyFarthingGB“
Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/PennyFarthing