Monday, August 3, 2009

Monday AMuse

these photos are really bad --- but I was in a rush to capture this
and yes, they were together!
I even drove on ahead and snuck in a sidestreet to get a good shot -- then a damn car got right smack in the way!

27 comments:

  1. I would be too scared on that big one. I wonder how he dismounts.

    And notice she is carrying the bags!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How funny. I don't think I'd feel comfortable on the bigger one. A velocipede, right?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Crazy to see on the street, you'd need a little ladder to get up on it. Good find!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, like others have mentioned, you gotta wonder how he gets off and on that thing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those Penny-farthing cycles were all the rage in the 1880's - I think the trick was to push hard on one pedal, get a bit of speed up and fling the other leg over, sort of round the back of the big wheeel, hoising yourself to an upright position at the same time!

    Took some practice, I would think!

    Definitely not for the the ladies!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I didn't know any of those bicycles still existed! Much less in rideable condition! Cool, very cool! I actually like the juxtaposition of the car and bicycle! You did goooood!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I (sortof) saw him getting on while I was preparing to back out of a parking space. As I reached for my camera, another car pulled in beside me blocking my view. Then, as I was thinking of getting out of my car at the entrance while they were on the street, another car pulls up beside me, and he says to me: "hurry, hurry to get a good picture" as he also blocks my view!

    So am not entirely certain how he climbed up onto it, but he was stationary at the time. I want to know how he stops at a light....

    Ruth, yes, I noticed he has no saddle bags for groceries.

    SAW, had to look up velocipede to check, and they were bicycles without chains and a crank on the front wheel. So yes, you are right, though I've just always known it as a penny farthing (so named for the wheel sizes that were like the largest and smallest coins in Britain in the 1800s)

    ReplyDelete
  8. How do you get up on one of those?

    ReplyDelete
  9. You don't get down off a velocipede, you get down off a duck (ha ha ha ha). I'm sorry. That's a very cool photos. Maybe he just falls over when he gets to a light or something. That's usually how I stop on any bicycle

    ReplyDelete
  10. A penny-farthing, bedad. Great pics.

    ReplyDelete
  11. XUP, ha ha

    Jazz, I guess long legs help?

    ReplyDelete
  12. mewriteon, thanks, it was exciting to see.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow you were quick on the trigger to get these I am never able to get a picture in time

    ReplyDelete
  14. Penny Fathing cycles used to be so fashionable. Cannot imagine why.. they must surely have been somewhat ahem, dangerous to the appendages!
    As to the other... words fail!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great!. There are some wonderful people around, are there not.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hahahah how funny! i would have been chasing them up the street with my camera ;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Great capture!...I'm impressed that you had your camera with you and ready...It certainly does look dangerous...I imagine there were no traffic lights when they were in vogue...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Berni and Oliag, I was out looking for fences for the SundayStills, so my camera was handy. Meggie, those poor appendages!

    moresecretwhispers, I probably just should have asked to take a photo, as I was chasing him down the street! And he has chutzpah, Ken to ride that thing on a busy road - such a distraction!

    ReplyDelete
  19. The pennyfarthing bicycle always reminds me of The Prisoner, as it was the symbol of The Village.

    ReplyDelete
  20. COOL!!
    Thank you for your encouraging words at my blog! :)NG

    ReplyDelete
  21. H! know the frustration of being about to take the perfect shot and then a car gets in the way.

    How cool to see the old-fashioned bicycle!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love the unicycle! I've never seen one actually ridden before.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hilarious! I wonder what makes people want to ride a pennyfarthing in the first place?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Granted, its not everyday you see a velocipede everyday. As for dismounting, that really isn't a problem. Usually when you touch the brakes, you just fly head first over the handlebars.

    Actually its landing that's a problem.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ah, you may have a point, Barry. And notice the lack of helmet?

    I had forgotten that, Guillaume.

    And I think being an eccentric is necessary to riding something this photogenic and large.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Aren't they fun looking things? I doubut I could manage one sober let alone after a cider...

    ReplyDelete
  27. You were lucky you had a camera handy. You captured the strange sight well!

    ReplyDelete

Glad you stopped by. For anyone who stumbled here, don't be shy to say 'hi' and let me know you've visited!