NATCHEZ TRACE, Tenn. — The rolling hills of Tennessee attract adventurers, bikers, hikers, cyclists, and riders from all over the country and even the world.
I caught up with an Englishman who plans to ride the entire Natchez Trace on a different set of wheels.
“This bit is for walking, I’m afraid,” Jon Bicknell starts out telling us.
He’s riding a penny-farthing.
It's not what you'd normally see along the Natchez Trace.
“I’m feeling fantastic, thank you,” he shouts to us.
It’s quick to see that Bicknell is not your normal Englishman either.
“Many cyclists have this beautiful bike that cost tens of thousands of dollars or pounds in the UK. They look amazing. But I thought, no, I don’t want to be like that. I want to do something eccentric. Penny-farthing it is,” he said.
From head to pedal, there's a reason for his eccentricities.
“It’s to celebrate a fine English gentleman who was the first person to cycle across America,” said Bicknell.
141 years ago, that fine English gentleman, Thomas Stevens, set out on his journey.
“I’m sorry, Thomas. I’m sorry I missed 140,” said Bicknell.
He planned to cross the Natchez Trace on his penny-farthing last year, but a medical mishap sidelined him.
“I was gutted. I tore my Achilles tendon, and you need your Achilles to jump up these steps,” he said.
“But here we are 141 years later to the very day, the very hour and minute that he (Stevens) left California. I’m paying homage to my boy, my chap… I feel like me and Old Tom have the same spirit of crazy adventure.”
Bicknell chose the Trace as his penny-farthing route and brought snacks to fuel his way.
“If anyone in passing wants to provide a fine cup of tea, no sugars just milk thank you very much, English breakfast,” he said.
He knows he'll run into obstacles.
“You only need two things to run a penny-farthing. One: a head for height, and two: is good health insurance,” he said.
“To carry off around the world and not end up brown bread as they say in England, which is short for dead. I can’t imagine he used to carry on.”
Bicknell plans to power his big wheel the entire 444 miles.
“I’m just talking to my knee. How many more? Hold on, my knee is saying about fifteen more miles… Unlike a bicycle, a normal bike and put your weight on the handlebars. It’s all where you’re sitting, so I’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Bicknell hopes to get Stevens recognized in his hometown of Berkhamsted, a town north of London.
He has friends and family following and helping him along his way, however many weeks it will take.
If you have thoughts on this story, email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com.
