1887 Rudge Light Roadster
Posted on 12/01/2004 8:06:01 AM PST by FreedomFarmer
Wednesday December 1, 2:45 PM British fund-raiser nears end of coast-to-coast Australian trek on penny-farthing bicycle
A former British soccer player pedaled through Sydney's early morning traffic Wednesday as he neared the end of a 4,350-kilometer (2,700-mile) coast-to-coast odyssey on a penny-farthing bicycle.
Leukemia survivor Lloyd Scott cycled from the west coast city of Perth to Sydney in 50 days, braving soaring temperatures, bumpy roads and even exploding truck tires.
He was due to complete his trip Thursday by taking his bike _ with its giant front wheel and tiny back wheel _ for a sightseeing tour of some of Sydney's most famous landmarks.
"It has been an epic journey, one full of incidents including numerous close shaves with huge road trains, damaging his bike after hitting a pot hole which badly bruised his legs, flies, snakes, extreme temperatures, numb fingers, bruised undercarriage and a swarm of locust," spokeswoman Tina Price said in a statement.
Road trains are giant trucks that rumble along Australia's Outback highways. On Wednesday one of the trucks' blew a tire right next to Scott on the outskirts of Sydney, spraying him with chunks of rubber.
Scott is using the bike ride to raise money for a leukemia charity. He started the ride looking like British supersleuth Sherlock Holmes in tweed clothes and a deerstalker hat _ the clothes came from the same era as his 19th century bike.
A former firefighter and professional soccer player from Essex, southeast England, Scott is no stranger to covering long distances in inappropriate apparel _ he has completed the New York and London marathons in a vintage diving suit _ complete with boots and helmet _ that weighed in at a hulking 59 kilograms (130 pounds). He took five days to finish the New York race.
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