There is old-school and then there is OLD-SCHOOL. Florida Man Patrick Thomsen shows what the latter looks like in this video of him racing cyclocross on a modified off-road penny farthing bike. There are pro dismounts, shouldering, wicked descents and tripods in this fun local race video. And yes, Florida has cyclocross.
by Kelly Edwards
November 18 and 19th was the third round of the Wicked Awesome Racing (W.A.R.) sub-series at Stanley Park in Dade City, FL. The races are part of the Florida Cyclocross Series. (Yes, Florida has a cyclocross series).
On the final day of racing, Patrick Thomsen showed up with a modified penny farthing bike to race in the single speed / open MTB category.
When someone shows up on a penny farthing, you have to watch. photo: vimeo screen capture
Patrick is a fixture in the Florida bicycle community and organizes The Patrick Cup, a series of challenging and fun events during Florida cyclocross races that have become legendary in Florida Cyclocross.
Barrier technique was pro. photo: vimeo screen capture
The other racers agreed they wanted to watch Patrick take on Josh Thornton’s challenging course design on his penny farthing. All the racers made a gentlemen’s agreement to enjoy the first lap at a parade lap pace to watch Patrick and start racing after the first lap.
Shouldering technique. photo: vimeo screen capture
In the end, the real winner was Patrick Thomsen who reminded everyone that part of cyclocross is having fun.
