Who is that guy riding the old timey bike on Westminster trails? And why in the world would anybody choose such an unforgiving mode of transportation for suburban Colorado?
“I’m nuts. That’s the simple answer,” said 72-year-old Westminster resident Paul Brekus. “I love to ride the bike. And when you’re on a penny-farthing, everybody smiles.”
Smiles are a familiar sight for Brekus when he rides his Victorian-era bicycle through modern-day Westminster. Looking down from his perch above the gigantic front wheel, he sees plenty of other reactions.
Children point. Joggers walk. Someone almost always reaches for their phone.
Stopping for a chat is easier said than done, but Brekus is happy to smile and wave as he cruises along Big Dry Creek Trail at 10 miles per hour.
There is one popular refrain he can’t stand: “Pop a wheelie!”
“How do I explain in five seconds that this is a front-wheel drive, and it’s impossible to do that?” Brekus said. “So, my natural reaction is ‘Momma wheelie!’”
The bikes Brekus prefers were never designed for childish BMX tricks. They were built for speed. Since early bicycles didn’t have chains or gears, builders in the 1870s made the front wheel huge so the rider could cover more ground with one turn of the pedals. The name “penny-farthing” is British slang, referring to old coins – the large penny and the much smaller farthing, worth one quarter of one penny.
The nineteenth century design is beautiful but unforgiving. The bike weighs about 50 pounds. The tires are solid rubber. The machine has no modern geometry to smooth out mistakes. Every crack, bump, rock, and pothole sends direct feedback nearly five feet straight up into the saddle.
Thrill seekers and hipsters might give it a go. Brekus has logged 200,000 miles and counting.
“I try to do at least 100 miles a week,” he said.
“I’m 72 years old now, and a couple of years back I was doing 7,000 miles a year, now down to about 5,500 a year.
Paul Brekus
It’s rare that I that I miss a day.”
Brekus documents each and every ride using the Strava app. His morning and nightly walks around the neighborhood sandwich penny-farthing journeys in a consistent feed that dates back to 2015. Brekus has over 1,200 followers on Strava who give kudos on rides titled with quotes he hears from onlookers, like “That’s tight, bro!” and “How you do dat? That’s crazy!”
Brekus was profiled by The Denver Post as a local celebrity back in 2021, but since then has become a Westminster resident. A 24-mile ride from his old neighborhood in Denver to his current residence is titled “Glad to see you still riding after all these years, Paul!”
“I got tired of shoveling snow and doing a lawn and trying to keep the lawn looking nice. That’s covered here,” he said about his Legacy Ridge townhome. “I love this neighborhood. And what I really like about Westminster is the trail system.”
Westminster’s extensive trail network allows Brekus to venture out pretty much everywhere he needs to go. His routes spider web throughout the metro. He rides to visit with a friend in Golden, attend church near Sloan’s Lake, and run an errand to a bike shop in Thornton.
One of his favorite routes is a cruise along Big Dry Creek out to Standley Lake, making sure to pass through the Armed Forces Tribute Garden near City Park on his way home.
“The view of heading west and seeing the mountains in the background is amazing,” he said. “Also on the return trip, I will go through the veterans memorial and I’ll name people that I know that served in each of the branches as I go around. The only one I don’t have is the Coast Guard.”
Brekus is aware that he is getting older. The miles are starting to feel a little longer. The hills are getting steeper. But for a man who has summited Lookout Mountain on the penny-farthing and careened all the way down its eastern side, friction brake glowing red, the pedaling never stops.
“My oldest daughter, Laura, and my youngest daughter, AJ, both realize that there’s no stopping dad,” Brekus said. “So they’re just going to have to live with it. I told them very clearly, if I crash and die on this, just remember, that’s the way I would have preferred to have gone instead of slowly deteriorating in a nursing home.”
Someday, somebody else may become the man on the penny-farthing, towering over the trails as e-bikes zip by. Until then, Brekus will continue to smile and wave. He will keep pedaling and promoting his passion for the outdoors. He will trust the next generation to try using “proper transportation” to get around.
“I’m hoping it’s going to inspire people to get outdoors,” he said. “Preferably on a bike, preferably a penny-farthing, but just get out there. Enjoy nature, enjoy life, enjoy Westminster.”
