IN THIS ISSUE [CYCLING CAROLINE COUNTY ... - Spokes Magazine

HIGHWHEEL continued from p.5
ing accommodations and not having to camp out as
much as Sommerfield does today.
Sommerfield wears a very unusual pith helmet like
the helmets worn by English soldiers a century ago in
foreign lands. Next to the bike, it’s his most valued
possession. One large chunk is taken out of it when a
truck ran over him, another large ding was the result
of a landslide/rock fall he got caught up in Tibet, on
perhaps his worst day of the trip.
“I was camped on a Tibetan plateau around 13,000
feet up, and it had been raining and sleeting all day
and all night. In the morning I started off with gloves,
but within 10 minutes couldn’t feel my hands. In a bit,
there was a small building. I went in and it was smoke
filled from the burning dung they were using to heat.
Their faces were black from the smoke, but they were
so friendly even though we couldn’t communicate.
They pulled off my gloves, sat me in front of the stove
and gave me jam jars full of hot water. After about an
hour, they dried me up and I was able to get back on
my bike. I rode all day on a semi-flooded road. At one
point the bike dropped into a puddle that must have
had no bottom. I grabbed the handlebars and the
entire bike sank up to the bars.”
At another point that day, Sommerfield went over the
handlebars and landed on his back which was protected
by a backpack.
A bit further down that road, he sensed rocks and
mud beginning to unsettle on the hills along the path.
“I quickly realized I was in the midst of a mud slide.
My adrenaline was pumping, but I grabbed the bike
and ran through a section. That’s when an apple-sized
rock flew into my helmet taking a chunk out of it.”
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The very next day, Sommerfield had a better day,
his only major incident involved being bitten on the
toe by a dog. It was the only day Sommerfield did
not keep his whip handy. Because a high wheeler sits
several feet above where a normal cyclist would sit,
he cannot reach down to shoo a dog chasing him (a
common occurrence). This day he’d forgotten, and
tucked the whip away out of reach. Fortunately, the
dog’s teeth did not break through to his skin and the
bite was superficial.
Riding in Nepal has been Sommerfield’s favorite part
of the trip. “The people are so friendly, inquisitive,
and many speak English. After you ride in the mountains
of the Himalayas you feel so strong that you can
ride anywhere.
Sommerfield also recounts a number of “being
attacked by bugs” stories, ants, mosquitos, you name it.
But one of his favorite tales is being attacked by a
water sprinkler.
It was the end of the day in Australia’s outback. He
stopped at a BP gas station in the middle of nowhere.
The station’s owner said Sommerfield could camp
out back, but he should be aware of the sprinkler
system there. Sommerfield looked around but didn’t
notice any sprinkler heads when he set up his tent.
In the early pre-dawn hours, a sprinkler head popped
up, breaking though his tent’s thread bare floor and
sprayed high-powered water everywhere.
“If anyone would have been around to see me they
would have really had a laugh. I jumped up and went
crazy, screaming and thrashing the walls of the tent. I
didn’t know what was going on! Everything got soaked.”
Sommerfield reminds folks there is still no guarantee
he’ll succeed at becoming the second person to ride
around the world on a high wheeler. But his chances
are looking much better each day he gets closer to
England.
So not to jinx his effort, Sommerfield tries not to
think about the final days. But he will talk about
how he’d like it to end. “I’m going to return home
on my favorite path which runs along the Thames
(River). I know every bump along the final five mile
long stretch. After I get home, I’m looking forward
to sitting in my favorite pub ‘Coach and Horses’
in Greenwich and really enjoying a pint or two of
Guinness. Up until now, people at home know me as
the guy who keeps talking about riding around the
world on a penny farthing. But from that time on,
they’ll point me out as the guy who rode his penny
farthing around the world. That will be sweet!”
6 August 2008