Originally Posted by
gilesa
That is a lovely idea, but seems improbable to me. The lamp lighter has to open the door, turn on the gas and light the mantles.
Tricky from the saddle! And you would expect to see some specific adaptations on the bike for such a specialised task.
Well, I don't know about the veracity of the OPs claims, but it seems obvious to me if on a tall bike, the lamplighter would simply put one hand on the lamp pole to steady himself and use the other hand to open the lamp door, turn the knob and light the lamp or whatever the process involves.
Probably half the stuff I do myself on or off a bike is done one-handed. And I often pause during a ride w/o putting foot to ground by just reaching out and putting my hand on some ready support. (Light pole, fence, parked car, etc.) Same technique would work just as well for a lamplighter 8 feet off the ground.