“Imagine trying to cycle up a hill in your hardest cog, with a rucksack full of bricks,” says Charlie Burrell, describing the sensation of riding a fixed-wheel penny-farthing. “It sort of feels like that.”
If anyone would know, it’s the 40-year-old. On Sunday, the shortest day of the year, Burrell rode his penny-farthing for 101 miles dressed in a Santa costume and wellington boots. He began at Brighton Pier at 8:30am, and hoped to return by sunset around 4pm. Instead, his loop of Sussex’s bridleways led him on a gruelling 12-hour slog, compounded by rain, potholes, darkness, and a spectacular over-the-handlebars crash.
