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SALT LAKE CITY — Joff Summerfield wants to see the world on two wheels, but not on a standard bicycle.
"It's crazy and it's eccentric, but I'm English, and that's what we are," Summerfield said.
About 15 years ago, Summerfield decided to build an old-fashioned penny-farthing. This 1870s-model bicycle was known in the United States as a high wheel. He took it on some long-distance rides around Europe before eventually taking his first 20,000-mile ride around the world in 2006. He finished that ride about two years later.
"I just love these bikes," Summerfield said. "You get a great view."
But he admits, they're not ideal. With the pedals fixed to the front wheel, hills can be especially challenging and downhill drives sometimes risky.
"It's uncomfortable, it's inefficient, it's hard work," Summerfield said. "They're solid tires, so you feel every bump in the road and you get sore where you shouldn't be sore."
Summerfield eventually opened a shop in London where he built and sold penny-farthings for several years. But he said "the call of the road" drew him to sell everything and set off for another worldwide journey.
"I love to travel and I love to see the world," Summerfield said, "and tell people that the world is actually a really nice place and it's full of really nice people."
Summerfield plans to ride south through Moab and the Grand Canyon and eventually get through South America by this time next year.
For more of Summerfield's interview with KSL, click the video link. Summerfield regularly posts photos from his journey on his website, calloftheroad.co.uk.
