
Euan P.
Australia
(If you are not aware of Penny Farthing Racing, check out the humorous report below on the event from our customer.)
Hey you moustache aficionados,
I just wanted to write and thank you for your support at the recent Australian Penny Farthing Championships, and give you an event report. Please feel free to use any of the text or photos in your blogs, website, print media or smoke signals you might put out there to the world.
The races here in the Antipodes are the only, (according to the Guinness Book of Records), annual high wheel championships in the world, so I asked Jim Beam, and he said if America can have a baseball world series that is only in America and the rest of the world doesn’t enter, then the only annual national high wheel race in the world must be therefore a world ranking event, and the cold hard light of sobriety did little to dispel this idea. I was a high end athlete competing in a world cup event with an international sponsor. Or, I was a middle aged man playing dress ups with delusions of grandeur. Either could have been the case, the two are so similar, and in the end History will be the judge.
(See next photos for the continuation of his comments...)
Sixty two racers fronted for a range of events, along with five thousand or more spectators, so it was a busy two days of racing. There was some comment about the legality of sponsorship in what is essentially an amateur event, but it was generally agreed that as long as the ‘tash was not waxed into an aerofoil to provide an unfair advantage in downforce at speed then a steward’s enquiry could be avoided.
In terms of results there were a number of inglorious mid pack finishes in various races recorded against my name, plus a fourth in an endurance event, a third in the Novice Race, (for first time racers), and a sixth overall in the National Championships. Or sixth in the world, as I like to think. People were most amused by the moustache wax promotion, and not only was it often mentioned by the commentator, but I ended up being interviewed on the state TV news, who were looking for colorful characters to feature. As a consequence I was approached by a number of people with some truly horrible gel based moustache styling solutions asking for advice, so I distributed your business cards freely. I hope this leads to not only business for you, but also to the rest of the world not having to look at what they were doing to their faces. Gel! Please spare me…
In all it was a most upbeat and enjoyable weekend. Penny farthing racing is not a common pursuit, and so it tends to attract an interesting and offbeat crew, and it was a fine thing to add to and be part of that. Once again thank you for contributing some color to the undertaking. A week later I had someone come up to me when I was in another part of the state and say, “Aren’t you a Penny racer? I recognise the moustache. We had a great time, thanks for the performance.” Most kind and flattering indeed.
I have attached a series of photos of my racing efforts in the Firehouse livery, with custom wheel decals for added instability in crosswinds. I hope they give you a smile, and sense of what the event was like. Thank you again for supporting a crazy foreigner writing to you out of the blue, it added spice to a fun weekend of racing.
I hope Life is treating you well, although if it is then lots of people's houses are burning down which is not so good, so that's a little confusing, but thanks again,
Euan