Patriotic High-Wheeler Hangs Up His Helmet

In 1975, Jim Whorton paid $375 to buy an ugly, black high-wheel bike from a store in Longview. 

When he got home, Whorton had to explain to his wife, who thought initially that the purchase was “kind of loony,” that he’d gotten a good deal. In the almost five decades since, Whorton’s investment has “turned out to be a great plus.”

The former Marine with a love of patriotism, freedom, and America has participated in 49 Park Cities Fourth of July parades. For all but three of those years, he has ridden the antique penny farthing he bought in 1975, which is about 5 feet tall with a 48-inch front wheel and no brakes.

But Whorton is now “up in the 80s,” has had a knee and hip replaced, and is looking at options for his other knee. 2024 was his last year of rolling in circles through the streets on two wheels. Next year, paradegoers will see him in a four-wheeled vehicle, and he’s “going to wave like Queen Elizabeth used to.”

“I love fans and they seem like they really appreciate you doing this,” he said. “It gives me energy. That’s the reason I hate to give it up, but I know I should.”

Members of Whorton’s family followed him this year to help at the start and finish. But Whorton has otherwise changed very little about his parade routine.

He wears the same uniform that he adopted around 2000 — blue pants, a long-sleeved shirt adorned with the stars and stripes, and knee-high socks. In a concession to safety, he has replaced his straw hat with a helmet. Children sprayed him with silly string that got caught in his axle one year, causing him to go off the front of the bike.  

Whorton remembers another close call when he reached the top of the hill on Beverly Drive and all the bearings in his front wheel started falling out. His mother, a patriot and natural-born comedian, wrote a story about how “Jimmy Lost His Bearings” in memory of the event.

For more than two decades, Whorton has handed out commemorative pens to police officers and others who come close enough to his high-wheeler. This year, he distributed about 200 of the mementos, along with candy. 

Some of Whorton’s favorite memories include when the Marine Band participated in the parade, and when he distributed candy to the staff of the television show Dallas, who joined the parade on horseback. 

Whorton said that his love of people, along with his patriotism, has kept him going over the years. In addition to riding his high-wheeler, he works at the State Fair of Texas, served for decades as leader of Scout Troop 70, and is a world-traveler and avid hiker who climbed the Matterhorn in Switzerland. 

“It just makes me proud to see these people out there waving their flags,” he said. “If the world is filled up with those kinds of people, we’re going to make it fine. We really are.”