An adventurer has been left feeling saddle sore after an eventful start to his latest charity quest.
David Fox-Pitt MBE rolled into Perth on Thursday for the final phase of his epic penny farthing ride from from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
The 841-mile challenge is raising thousands of pounds for Mary’s Meals, the Scottish charity that provides lifeline support to 1.4 million children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Throughout the run, Mr Fox-Pitt, from Aberfeldy, has been joined by travelling companion Neil Laughton, founder of the UK Penny Farthing Club.
Mr Fox-Pitt said so far, the journey had not been without its challenges.
“We set out eight days ago in a hurricane. It was the most horrendous first day, with driving rain and howling gales. We were going to set off at 5am but we had to postpone everything for about six hours.
“Day two was absolutely hellish too because it was so up and down. These penny farthings have no gears, so it’s an absolute killer going uphill.
“The brakes at the back are fairly ineffective as well, especially in wet weather.”
He said: “There was also an unfortunate incident in Lancaster where I crashed while trying to mount a kerb, and had a triple-somersault over the handlebars. It hurts when you fall off – it’s the same height as a horse after all – but luckily, I didn’t break anything.
“But the reason we are doing this is for Mary’s Meals. There are 60 million children on this planet who are not getting the food they need, and that’s an absolute disgrace in this day and age. There’s plenty of food to go around.
“We might be feeling a bit of pain today, but nothing like the sort of pain these mums and dads are feeling.”
So far, the duo’s efforts have made £17,000.
“We’ve still got a bit to go,” said Mr Fox-Pitt.
“I like to make the seemingly impossible possible and through my work for charity I have encouraged thousands of people to surpass their own boundaries through successfully completing tough adventure challenges,” he said.
“I like to make people think outside the box, and mastering the penny farthing is the perfect tool to illustrate how to overcome a fear of failure, embrace a new skill and above all make people smile.”
After Perth, the pair – joined for the day by another penny farthing enthusiast Guy Banham – pedalled on to Pitlochry. They are due to reach John O’Groats on Sunday.
To support the Mary’s Meals cycle, you can make a donation of £15 by texting PENNY15 to 70085.
