Penny farthing cyclist beats continuous ride record

A cyclist has gone the extra (two) miles to scoop a world record after attempting two challenges in the space of 24 hours - while riding a penny farthing.

Norfolk-born Richard Thoday, 62, who now lives near Belper in Derbyshire, set out to break two Guinness World Records at Reading Velodrome in recent days - the longest continuous ride on the 19th Century bicycle and the greatest distance covered in 24 hours.

He managed to scoop a place in the record books for a continuous penny farthing cycle of 236 miles (380km) - beating a distance set in 1886 by two miles (3.2km).

He said: "Physically it's difficult and technically there's all sorts of challenges — it's not for the faint-hearted."

Thoday already has one record under his belt after he made the fastest journey from Land's End to John O'Groats on a penny farthing - in four days, 11 hours and 52 minutes - in 2019.

But his endeavours are not just about the glory of breaking records, as Thoday has raised more than £3,400 for the Ashgate Hospice in memory of his sister.

The rules were set by Guinness, who stated Thoday had to stay on the bike at all times and that if at any point he stepped on the ground, it "would have been game over", he said.

Speaking to Chris Goreham on BBC Radio Norfolk, Thoday said: "I was also trying to break the record for the greatest distance in 24 hours which I failed this time, it was a fairly new record that was only last set in the late 1990s by an extraordinary rider that wears Lycra so I was doing everything I possibly could."

He said he felt like "a broken man" when he dismounted after 17 hours.

"People were joking about me getting dizzy going round that track that many times, it was something like 830 laps," he added.

"When I got off the bike, four people lifted me off in the end and the world was spinning for me."

The penny farthing - named after the comparative sizes of the British coins - was briefly popular during the Victorian era of the 1870s and 1880s as the sport of cycling took off.

Thoday added: "They are lovely things to ride once you master getting on and off.

"I end up having lots of lovely conversations with people out and about who just want to know more about it — it's a lovely way of travelling."

A spokesperson for Guinness World Records confirmed the application was now going through a its review process.

"At this stage we're therefore not able to confirm that the Guinness World Records title has been successfully achieved just yet.

"Once the evidence has been fully reviewed and the result verified by our records team, we'll be able to confirm the outcome," they said.

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