And that's riding a penny farthing bicycle.

I've always been rather interested in these early bikes, and a few days ago on a whim I did a google search. It turns out there's a fair few people who ride originals or replicas.

In order to get up on one, you must put your foot on a post above the small rear wheel, push off until you have enough speed for balance, then lift yourself into the saddle. Besides the fact that this motion makes it impossible to get the kilt underneath you, wearing anything loose or hanging creates a danger of something getting stuck on the fork. Taking a header is not something you want to do from eight feet in the air.

I wouldn't mind riding one of them. And I do need a new bike. My front gear shift is busted, the rear won't shift to 5, my front brake is dead and the rear is going. But it was still enough to get me around town so I didn't get a new one. With a penny farthing, no gears to worry about. No brakes on some models, either It would probably be difficult for an about town bike, since you can't put your foot down, but there are apparently people who do it.

I found this while looking them up:

http://www.pennyfarthingworldtour.com/

I have to say I'm impressed. He's made it quite a long way so far. He builds custom highwheelers, too, though obviously not at the moment.