Penny Farthing Rider's Pot-Hole Mishap

Link : http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91059-1156947,00.html

SETBACK FOR FUNDRAISER


Lloyd Scott in training and traditional tweeds

An eccentric fundraiser famous for completing the London Marathon in a deep-sea diving suit has come a cropper in his bid to cross Australia on a Penny Farthing.

Lloyd Scott suffered a badly bruised leg when he crashed his bicycle just 10 days into his Perth to Sydney trip.


The 43-year-old's Penny Farthing was badly damaged after striking a pot-hole just south of the outback town of Coolgardie, around 350 miles from Perth.

Mr Scott, from Rainham, Essex, has suffered a series of mishaps since setting off on his 2,700-mile fundraising challenge on October 13.

Cycling in a traditional Sherlock Holmes-style tweeds, a deerstalker hat and a large fake moustache, the former footballer has been attacked by magpies, stopped by the police and suffered extreme heat.

Although not seriously injured in the fall, Mr Scott said: "This makes me realise just how vulnerable I am out here.

"It was a shock, but after cycling over 100 kilometres a day it's nothing more than hitting a pot hole at the wrong speed and angle - simply bad luck."

A former leukaemia sufferer, the father-of-three embarked on the ride in a bid to raise £1.5m for the charity Children With Leukaemia.

He will use two larger Penny Farthings while the broken bicycle undergoes repairs.