MAN DODGES DANGER TO COMMUTE ON PENNY FARTHING
Meet the Victorian gentleman who could not face sitting next to smelly commuters on the bus - so he dodges danger to go to work on a penny farthing. Eccentric Jake Redfern, 21, rides high on the nine miles to his job as a caretaker at a school using a modern version of the 19th century form of transport. He stops motorists and passers by in their tracks wherever he goes as they stare in wonder at him riding his historic-style bike complete with Victorian dress of top hat and long jacket. Negotiating a tricky motorway junction over the M5 and nearly a dozen main roads aboard the bike he has named Tallulah, Jake carefully weaves in and out of traffic for over eight miles twice a day. Instead of spending the £700 on an annual bus pass he chose to spend £400 on the bike last year from an internet auction site. And he says he was inspired to choose a greener mode of transport to work after simply becoming tired of the personal hygiene of many of his fellow travellers. He said: "I was looking for some sort of mode of transport to work because I can't stand sitting next to smelly people on the bus.
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