‘We rode in Paris rush-hour while 8ft off ground on bikes with no brakes’

TWO friends from Henley who rode from Henley to Paris on penny-farthings say they wouldn’t do it again.

Matt Richardson, 58, and Bill Pollard, 57, arrived at the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday last week after riding about 230 miles in five days.

They raised more than £19,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Mr Richardson, a cancer survivor, said: “Although thrilled that we completed the ride safely, I have not recovered. My heart rate is still not normal. Any kind of exertion sends it racing and the feeling resembles overtraining, which I once experienced when rowing competitively in the mid-Nineties. My instinct is that I will feel better soon.

“I don’t regret anything about the way I prepared or the way I completed the ride. On reflection, it is probably the most eccentric idea I’ve ever come up with but it was all the more fun for that, not least because of all the people who we have met and been supported by during the past six months.

“At times the ride was nothing short of terrifying but I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. Would I do it again? No, but I’m already thinking of what’s next.” Mr Richardson, of Deanfield Avenue, said he had experienced an episode of “dizziness” on day four which nearly caused him to fall off the penny-farthing.

He said: “I managed to dismount and spent some time on my hands and knees at the roadside recuperating.

“I had to ride very slowly for most of the rest of the day in order to be confident of having a reasonable chance of completing day five, the final 35 miles into Paris.

“The next morning I felt positive, buoyed by the prospect of the relatively easy ride through Parc de Saint-Cloud and on to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, the day turned out to be the opposite of our expectations with the planned route disrupted by the upcoming Olympic preparations.

“There’s no feeling quite like riding through Parisian rush-hour traffic while 8ft off the ground on a fixed gear bike with no brakes.”

Mr Richardson said: “I knew the ride would be challenging as it comprised five of the longest and hilliest rides we’d ever managed on a penny-farthing on consecutive days. Even so, it was unexpectedly tough for me. The consultant oncologist had advised me that it would take at least two years for me to feel that I was even beginning to get back to normal following the intensive radio and chemotherapy I underwent at the end of 2022.

“As it’s now only 18 months since my treatment, I knew I would not be able to prepare for the ride in the way I would have before my diagnosis. Prior to my illness, I enjoyed competitive rowing, extreme cycling challenges and an Ironman triathlon and always trained hard.

“As my energy levels are much lower post-treatment, in the months before the ride to Paris, rather than treating the rides as training, I just enjoyed riding and tried to maintain my health. That’s why I focused on the fun aspects of riding: the coffee stops, different Victorian-style outfits and speaking to people I met about the ride and sponsorship.”

Mr Pollard, of Deanfield Road, said: “The best part of the ride was probably arriving at the Half Moon Inn in Warninglid in East Sussex to be greeted by about 50 people who cheered us.

“We later learned that they had all been following us on the GPS tracker. We hadn’t even heard of Warninglid but when we arrived, they all knew all about us. We were just blown away by their kindness and generosity.

“The real Champagne moment came towards the end of the fourth day when we were faced with a steep hill going up through a small town. We saw two local teenagers on mountain bikes dismount and walk their bikes up.

“Despite having 50 miles in our legs, we both knew what we had to do and rode past them with smiles on our faces. Needless to say they were a bit surprised to be passed by two old men on penny-farthings.”

The pair are now planning a more “flamboyant and perilous” ride.