Skip to main content

Kōrero: Cycle racing

Penny-farthing race

Image
Penny-farthing race

This is the starting line of a penny-farthing race at Dunedin's Caledonian sports ground, around 1880. The rider's clothes are fascinating, both for their informality (the amount of exposed flesh was unusual) and their  functionality (the lack of layers helped to prevent over-heating). Such clothing was considered too immodest for women riders.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Burton Brothers Collection

Reference: C.011957

by Burton Brothers

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Simon Kennett, Cycle racing – Early cycle racing, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/40237/penny-farthing-race (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Simon Kennett, i tāngia i te 3 December 2012, updated 1 October 2015.