"I got on the bike, fell off it almost immediately."
The first time Robert O.N. Torto took to his beloved penny-farthing bicycle — a test ride, to see if buying one of these eccentric contraptions was really a good idea — he was face-planting into the ground seconds later. "I forgot it was a fixed wheel bicycle," the chipper celeb cyclist tells me. He went straight over the handlebars, or rather with them — on a penny-farthing they basically strap you into your seat, like the bars on a fairground ride.
Dusting himself off, Robert bought the penny-farthing anyway. It was a decision that would change his life.
"There are absolutely no benefits to riding a penny-farthing!"
A short-lived chapter in the annals of cycling history, the penny-farthing (also once known, for very apparent reasons, as a 'high wheel') was invented in 1869 by Frenchman Eugène Meyer. Its comically oversized front wheel allowed a faster speed and smoother rides than earlier velocipedes, and with modifications made by James Starley from Coventry, the penny-farthing became a common sight in Britain. By the end of the 1880s, however, the safety bicycle had arrived, and penny-farthings were relegated as something to be gawked at in museums; a wonky footnote of engineering prompting incredulous mutterings of: "Did people really used to ride those?"
In fact, a select group of people still do ride them — one is Robert, aka Rasta Rolla (a name he brainstormed with two of his four daughters back when he was more of a roller skater). Maybe you've chanced upon him pedalling through the streets of London; otherwise you may recognise him from Instagram, where he entertains some 37k followers.
He's hard to miss; the vision of an English gent with Ghanaian flair — plus fours, bright socks, bowties, kente-inspired waistcoats and pocket squares. Robert was born in London at a time when race riots were raging. "Someone threw a molotov cocktail through the neighbour's window on Christmas day," he tells me, "So my family thought 'this is inherently unsafe'. In 1981, my mother, father, and sister and I moved to Jamaica — and I lived there for about 11 years."
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Subsequently moving to Ghana for six years, Robert came back to England in 1998, "to pick up where I left off in the 80s really". This is when he fashioned his look, inspired by a sharp-dressed grandfather, and a mother who'd made clothes for Rita Marley.
Gliding through London — or rather, floating just above it — Rasta Rolla prompts double-takes from van drivers and wondrous smirks from children. When riding up alongside vehicles on the road, he makes a point of doing so on the driver's side of the vehicle: "From the passenger side, they don't know what's going on. On the driver's side they can just look down and see 'OK, he's on a bicycle'. As opposed to 'What is this guy doing up in the air?!'"
Penny-farthings are somewhat hairy to ride. Not only are they high up, the direct-drive mechanism means that as soon as you stop pedalling, the bike comes to a stop. "There are absolutely no benefits to riding a penny farthing to a normal bicycle!" Rasta Rolla laughs, and he is not joking. So how did he get to riding one of these beautifully farcical machines around in the first place?
"It's something everyone should try at least once in their life"
It started with an invite to marshal at the London Tweed Run, where one participant convinced Robert to climb on her 50-inch penny farthing. "She said 'You really look good riding this — you really should get one!'. I said 'Ah nah, this wouldn't be for me, it feels really awkward to ride.' She said 'OK, well if I find one your size, would you get it, or at least try it?'. I said 'Yeah I'll take that bet'.
"I thought she was joking, just fun and games. Two weeks later, she sends me a link to an eBay page with this penny-farthing. I was like 'here we go... no excuses now!'"
Robert went for a test ride in Stratford, deciding to don a black suit and tie. "I thought I'd be in keeping with the theme of the bicycle". This was the moment he ended up on the floor, but sensing there was something special about the bike, Robert stuck at it. A love affair twixt man and bike blossomed.
Penny-farthing cyclists, explains Rasta Rolla, should stick to a couple of golden rules. Always mount from the back, not the front or side. And once you're up and running, get up and down as little as possible during your journey. The main obstacle to this rule is traffic lights and busy junctions. But given his disarming charm, Rasta Rolla gets away with asking motorists if he can momentarily lean against their vehicle. He's even done this with police vans. "Your average Lycra clad cyclists — they wouldn't dare lean again someone else's vehicle!".
"I'm genuinely commuting on my bicycle"
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As much attention as Rasta Rolla garners, the penny-farthing is not just for show. "I'm never just cycling — I'm always doing something. I'm never just frivolously going for a bike ride just to catch people's reactions. I'm genuinely commuting on my bicycle."
In his day job as a road safety engineer, Robert is able to check out issues with junctions and cycle lanes, and feed this back. He's arguably doing something more important, too. Road rage might stalk London's streets — particularly at rush hour — but the sight of Rasta Rolla wheeling down the cycle lane is singularly disarming; an unexpected moment of joy. "With this bicycle the conversation flows readily," he says. Rasta Rolla finds himself chatting with strangers at junctions. Refitting children's bike chains. Even on the occasion he was almost flattened by a van, the situation ended amicably.
Rasta Rolla reckons his trusty steed has even bled into his own personality. "The bicycle has turned me into a much calmer person. I feel an obligation when I'm riding it to be that English gent, albeit with African flair."
Having bought up a few penny-farthings of varying sizes, Robert is now planning to establish somewhere people can learn how to ride them, and go on affordable experiences. "It's something that everyone should try at least once in their life," he says "a bucket list item."
Until then, he'll remain one of the few penny-farthing cyclists in London — if not the only one. Occasionally, Robert runs into his friend, Alan, another proud owner of one of these skew-whiff bikes. "I'll be riding along and bang, there's Alan on his penny farthing, you know! It's happened about three times and it's hilarious. People are thinking we're in a convention or something!"
As for the getup? Even with the sweltering temperatures London's been having recently, Rasta Rolla refuses to get more pared down than chinos and a shirt. "It's about respecting this bicycle. I wouldn't dare get on in a tracksuit. That's just too uncouth, you know what I mean?!"
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