'Magical story': Simon Weir overcomes health battle, seals national penny farthing title

Returning to Evandale after a second-place finish in his maiden outing last year, the Canberran bike mechanic breezed around the mile circuit in 3:15.94 to deny NSW's Simon Fowler a sixth national title.

The win had special significance for Weir, who endured a challenging preparation for the race.

"I'm psyched because my lead-in sucked," Weir said.

"My last two or three months, I just got over a lymphoma and so I've literally just finished radiation treatment in January.

"I'm extremely grateful for the whole thing, it's nuts how good our Medicare covers this sort of problem, it does really well with cancers.

"So to finish the end of January and I was basically limping along to get to this event, it's a magical story, you couldn't script it."

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Known in the ACT as 'Simon the Bike Guy', Weir bought a penny farthing during COVID lockdowns in August 2021.

The purchase kickstarted a chain of events that saw him leave his job to focus on his mobile bike workshop business.

"I knew this thing [penny farthing] could just sit next to my business tent and bring in business - a crazy thing for a crazy time, so it just made sense," he said.

"My entire life has changed, my business has gone off the charts because of the penny, contributing at least.

"It's just adorable fun, you get this wave of smiles of people in all age groups.

"Whether it's kids dropping their phone, or grandmas going 'oh my word', across all age brackets people just light up when you ride past."

Weir won comfortably from Fowler, two-time champ Tim Nash and ACT's Doug Suter, who finished in that order in a stunning battle for the podium.

"[Fowler] really had me last year," Weir said.

"No-one ever expects they'll be a national champion so to reach that level, I couldn't put words to it yet."

Lizanne Fox won a fourth-straight women's title, but not without drama.

An airport mix-up saw the Canadian-born Sydneysider waiting anxiously for her penny farthing to arrive the morning of the race after it missed a connecting flight on Friday. The bike eventually arrived, and Fox was again up to the task.

"It did add an element of stress but once I got the bike it's been fun all day," she said.

"It's getting a little harder each time - the two Maynard sisters Clare and Bridie, when I first started racing they were still juniors.

"Bridie's the youngest and she's fast - she beat me in the sprint and if she was able to do the final - she's had a concussion so she wasn't allowed to race - it would have been some really tight racing between me, her and her sister."

About 4000 people lined the streets of Evandale as the small town hosted its 40th penny farthing national championships.

International riders and competitors from from every state and territory, bar the Northern Territory, were represented in the 50-strong entry list.

The championships continue on Sunday with the Dianne Sullivan Clarendon Road Race, named in memory of the championships' long-time organiser.

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