Been thinking about...

Penny-farthings.

I often think about penny-farthings. I don't know why, I guess they just appeal to me.

Maybe it's the old-timey-ness of them. Maybe it's the incongruity of the wheel size. Maybe it's the obvious and inherent danger.

Many years ago, I used to wonder about getting on a penny-farthing - the how-tos of it all. Then I discovered that most models have this little step-thingy above the little wheel, so you just step on the step and swing up. Kind of like using the stirrups to get onto a horse. (Mind you, getting onto a horse is something else I've never tried doing, and doesn't strike me as a particularly easy thing to do).

Lately, though, I've been more interested in how one would get off a penny-farthing without causing one's self serious harm.

The easiest thing to do on a unicycle is get off it. You either drop forwards or backwards and you just land on your feet. There's nothing fore or aft to impede your progress (excepting, of course, whatever might be in the environment surrounding you).

However, it occurred to me that Penny-farthings would not permit such methods of dismounting. One cannot drop to the rear as there is another wheel in the way. One cannot drop forwards as there are handlebars that would trap one's legs. Attempting to dismount in either direction would cause serious pain.

Now, you would think that one should get off a Penny-farthing the same way one dismounts a bicycle (seeing as a Penny-farthing is, in fact, a bicycle - what with the two wheels, and all). This makes much more sense than attempting to treat it like a unicycle, but you're much further up on a Penny-farthing which would, I would think, make dismounting to the side a) rather uncomfortable and b) more likely to involve falling over.

Upon reflection, I begin to see why Penny-farthings only lasted a few years before being replaced with the smaller, more evenly wheeled "safety bicycles".