1994 penny farthing champ can't keep away from Evandale

'Living through winter - no thanks," he said.

But since he first visited the historic Northern Tasmanian village in 1989, he hasn't exactly been able to stay away either.

Since 1989 the Queenslander has come virtually every February for the national penny farthing championships.

He won the title event in 1994 and 1998, and made the podium in the in-between years.

But it was in a race that no longer exists - a mile race on the tarmac at Launceston Airport - that he proved unbeatable, winning six straight titles.

"That was before 9-11 so we had access to the tarmac - 40 or 50 of us used to line up," Mr Richardson said.

"The tarmac is on a slight slope so we started up the high end and raced to the low end.

"Every year we had a nice northerly wind blowing - so we had a tailwind, a downhill slope and we used to tear down there reaching 50-55km/h.

"The speed isn't that scary but having your feet spinning that fast is [you can't freewheel]."

Mr Richardson won't be hopping on a bike this year, but is instead working as a committee member and race starter.

He'll be directing a 40-rider line-up - including participants from Puerto Rico, Honk Kong, the UK, Canada and mainland Australia - when races begin on Saturday.

Committee president Carol Potter said organisers were expecting crowds of between 3000 and 3500 people for a two-day event that, along with the Glover Prize and Verandah Music Festival - sits atop the town's biggest annual events.

"We punch well above our weight in Evandale for events considering they're all volunteer-run," she said.

"In Pioneer Park we'll have the village fair which is food drinks and lots of entertainment - everything from maypole dancing and bands to Joel Salom who's Erik the dog.

"He was on [Australia's Got Talent] - he's a most amusing chap."

Saturday's program will run from 10am to 4pm with the men's and women's headline events to be held at 1.45pm and 2pm.

The championships will conclude with a Sunday road race that starts at the Prince of Wales Hotel, travels past Nile and finishes with a picnic day at Clarendon House.

For more details visit www.evandalevillagefair.com