- [Hank] Last year Mark Beaumont tried to break
the 136 year old Penny Farthing World hour record.
It turns out that riders in the 1880's
were not hanging around
and Mark narrowly missed the mark by 35.55 kilometers.
That record is what's called pace though.
Meaning that you can have other riders
on the track to help you.
Something which is a little at odds
with the modern day world hour record.
So Guinness World Records have drawn a line in the sand
and created a new one,
a true test of solo power
rider and machine battling to cover as much distance
as possible in one hour.
So, can we set an indoor hour record on a Penny Farthing?
(energetic music)
So Chris, I mean we've ridden the track before
and even coming in,
it feels quite daunting.
I mean, the banks are steep.
- 42 percent at the steepest
and it's a good five meters from the top of the track
down to the bottom
and then another two meters for your head
when you're sat on top of that.
If you're brave enough to get up there,
that's seven meters from the ground.
- Mate, I am absolutely terrified.
- It's like going back to the track on day one, isn't it?
I was so confident as a rider,
on a road bike or a track bike,
this is something else altogether.
- This is a whole different beast.
It was now our turn, we couldn't put it off anymore.
The scene was set
and the time has come to get suited and booted.
Can we get a Penny Farthing rolling on the boards
of an indoor velodrome?
- I think these shoes are going to be a problem.
I can't pitch off.
- Marks just, was set off,
and it's such quite difficult,
it's setting off on the côte d'azur"
cause it is quite slippery
seeing as we have carbon road shoes.
And he looked like bambi on ice.
(man laughs)
This doesn't bode well.
This is um,
this could be quite scary once you're getting going,
but I think when you're getting going
you got some speed.
Fingers crossed it'll be okay.
But yeah, looks a bit strange.
(upbeat music)
- I just caught my leg on the peg
getting off the Penny Farthing,
so you can see I've scraped it down the side there
and it's just popped out.
Get a bit of ice on it.
- [Man] Hank, with all his track experience was next to try
and to be fair to him, made it look real easy,
for a bit.
(energetic music)
- I took the corner too sharp.
- [Man] Track 1, James nil.
- Track 1, James nil, that's exactly right.
- There's a bit of a-
- Oh-
Sorry mate.
- So for our first effort that was strong.
- Yeah, I think like-
I think when you get into it it'll be all right.
We'll do some throwin' off on the corners.
- [Hank] Next, it was now time for Chris.
I don't think Chris has any idea on how he would get on
and I could definitely see the worry in his face.
I think it's fairly obvious though as he's going round,
that he's not getting on with 56-inch wheel.
- Yeah, ready?
- Right, that is not cycling.
There is no part of that is anything to do with cycling.
It's like an exercise in how mad you are I think.
It's like so different,
you're just fighting yourself.
Like I genuinely felt pretty confident
because I know that I'm fitter than Mark and James
but I don't think I can ride a Penny Farthing
as fast as they can.
It's quite weird.
- I would say you were a 52, maybe a 54 for racing.
But you're riding technique is a 52.
- Yeah, I'm like-
- So as much fun as the 56 is,
I'm going for a 52.
It's much smaller.
My short, sprinty legs are clearly not designed
to stretch for the pedals.
I'm getting crampy feet,
crampy calves.
It just feels really uncomfortable so
hopefully the smaller wheel
helps me feel a little bit more comfortable,
hopefully then, I'll be as good, as fast as James.
- A few hours went by like a flash
and it was now time to put the thrills
and spills behind us.
Get the skin suits on and attempt a world record.
The big question though, on everyone's lips is,
is it even possible?
- So my name is Craig Glenday,
I'm the editor-in-chief at Guinness World Records,
but I also have the joy of adjudicating records
so I'm here in Darby at the velodrome with Mark Beaumont
to have a go at a record that hasn't been attempted,
well, probably ever really but
for more than 100 years,
for the one Penny Farthing record.
Are you ready?
- Ready.
- Five, four, three, two, one go.
- [Hank] Go Mark.
(upbeat music)
- Only lap 32.7 seconds,
which is pretty fast from a standing start.
- Mate, that's quick.
- On a Penny Farthing.
(upbeat music)
- He's doing really well.
He's ahead of the 26.5 seconds per lap,
which equates to 21.1 miles an hour.
So he's going faster than 21 miles per hour at the moment.
- [Hank] Go on Mark.
Go on Mark.
I'm blown away.
The guy is an absolute monster.
He's done 52 minutes,
over 300 watts on a Penny Farthing.
I don't know if Chris and I are going to get even close to him.
And he's still got a smile on his face.
Go figure.
(energetic music)
(men clap)
- Unreal effort.
- Well done.
- It hurts.
- Man, I think that's a world record matey.
I got ya.
- Who's next?
(men laugh)
- I think that'll be Chris.
- I can't tell you what an amazing relief it is to go first.
I was nervous about being out first but uh,
well now I've recovered a little bit,
it's a nice smug feeling to
feel like I've got a world record before breakfast
and it's just up to Chris and James
to see what they can do now.
- So Chris's record attempt number two,
the one hour Penny Farthing record attempt,
are you ready?
- I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
- Okay, after five.
Five, four, three, two, one go.
- Go on Chris, you can do this mate,
you can do this.
(energetic music)
- 40 seconds.
(bell ring)
- That man is flying.
- I am numb in places you should not be numb.
- Phenomenal.
Proud of him, that was awesome.
- At the start of the hour,
I had no idea if I could even complete
60 minutes on the Penny Farthing
let alone while trying to ride as fast as I could.
After six minutes, all I wanted to do was stop.
I stayed focus,
knowing that I'm physically in good shape
and I started to dig deep.
Over the next 50 minutes I felt more comfortable
and more confident.
But could I set a world record?
- James attempt number 3 for the Penny Farthing
one hour record, are you ready?
- I mean, I feel like I'm in a movie
but I don't know if I'm ready
but we'll give it a go chap.
- Good luck.
After five, four, three, two, one go.
- First pedal rev and I was nearly off.
I slipped, that huge 56 inch wheel
but after getting to the bottom of the track,
I put that behind me
and I focused on building speed.
(energetic music)
- 30 minutes in
and an uncomfortable broken saddle became excruciating.
The plastic on the saddle gave me no comfort
from the metal rods underneath and it got worse and worse.
Sitting at 130 rpm and not being able to stand up
and get off that broken saddle
became more painful than I ever imagined.
- Come on Hank, seven to big day.
- That's just not something that you experience
when you're racing like,
so to stand here and see, look into his eyes
and see the suffering is just yeah,
it's almost,
to say about it is bizarre.
To know what he's going through,
to see that he's experiencing it worse than I am,
you know, the discomfort and just sheer agony,
it's quite emotional.
(bell ring)
- He cannot wait to get off that ridiculous bike.
- Yes James, how was that good?
- Ah, ah, ah.
Ah, ah.
You got it.
Ah, ah, ah.
Whoa, easy easy easy.
- Well done, well done.
Well done dude.
Bloody good effort.
Well done.
There's some water.
- I need that new saddle.
(men laugh)
My ass.
- Very, very good effort.
It was a challenge, I think, much-
- Brutal. - More than you might think
and it's very unusual to see quite such pain after-
- It's a quite unusual feeling.
- But well done, congratulations,
I don't want you to see my clipboard.
- No I'm looking at it.
- Don't look at the clipboard.
- Try to not to look at it.
- So Mark, you're up first.
So you had the chance to set the record.
You achieved, drum roll, 33.865.
- Well done.
- That's a good-
- So it's very good so technically I would think,
we'll award you that.
It's officially admitting as we say.
So congratulations on being the first person to hold--
- Thanks very much sir.
- The one hour record.
- Thanks very much sir.
- Well done, congratulations. - Thanks very much.
(men applaud)
- The second fastest, you went the fastest,
you did go farthest certainly,
very close, 33.809,
is James.
So congratulations, you finished.
- I finished thank god.
- But you don't get anything so.
- Can I get a handshake?
- Other than our absolute respect
because it looked like you weren't going to finish
about 10 minutes in.
So congratulations on, you know,
still being alive.
Which means, this, the official Guinness World Record
certificate is going for a distance of 34.547,
Chris, congratulations you are officially amazing.
- Thank you very much.
- Well done, amazing, amazing effort.
- Well done, buddy. - Well done, bud.
- That was impressive.
(upbeat music)