Courier Mail: Cyclist proud to be ‘eccentric’

Of the tens of thousands of barmy Englishman to have descended on Australian shores in recent months, Joff Summerfield might be the barmiest. The 39-year-old Londoner isn’t even here for the cricket. Mr Summerfield is 1700km into his Australian leg of an around the world tour on one of the world’s most uncomfortable modes of transport – a penny-farthing bicycle.

The professional penny-farthing maker is undertaking the offbeat trip to raise money for the Born Free Foundation, a wildlife charity group, but admitted a love of animals was only one of the ingredients he needed for the trip.

“I’m completely eccentric – and proud of it too,” he said. “There’s too much sanity in the world.”

Mr Summerfield, who can log up to 70km a day, is resting in Brisbane and will continue down the east coast until he reaches Adelaide in February. He will compete in the world penny-farthing championships in Tasmania before moving on to New Zealand and China.

Mr Summerfield, who sold everything he owned to fund the two-year trek, started his tour in Greenwich, in east London, in May and cycled through Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece and Turkey.

Follow the tour at pennyfarthingworldtour.com