Close your eyes! What does the word cycling bring into your mind? Some people think of motorcycles. Some think of the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong. Some think or tricycles, those three wheeled cycles. Some think of unicycles, those one-wheeled cycles you see in the circus. Some of us think of bicycles or two-wheeled cycles that we pedal nowadays. But how many of us know about a bicycle that looks like this?
This type of bicycle is known as a Penny Farthing bicycle. The Penny Farthing bicycle was developed between 1870 and 1878. People wanted to be able to travel further and faster...but pedal less often. The front wheel size was increased to about 60 inches and the rear wheel was reduced to between 16 and 18 inches. People felt that by having the front wheel larger, a person could pedal once and move a long ways.
The back wheel, being so small, made the Penny Farthing bicycle lighter, and then it would go faster. There were some problems with this bicycle. First of all getting on the thing was a real trick. Once you were on, you had to be very careful because the smallest obstacle in the road, like a small rock, could send the rider flying over the handlebars! This often resulted in serious injuries! Sometimes, too, stagecoach owners would attack riders because they didn't like sharing the road with cyclists! Getting off a Penny Farthing was also dangerous and difficult. Because of the dangers to the rider, the Penny Farthing was popular only until 1892 when the safety bicycle, a style we all know, came into production.
Why was it named Penny Farthing? It was named that because the two wheels looked like large and small coins. Each year there is the National Penny Farthing Bicycle Championship ride in Evandale, Tasmania. The race is held on the third Saturday of February.
Written by: Carole Hiegert
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Painted By: Kathy Barnes
Written By: Carole Hiegert
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