Who would believe that a man’s lunch could prevent him from getting more than seven miles on the first unicycle trip around the world! However, just ask Ed Pratt of Chilthorne Domer in Somerset and he will assure you that is exactly what happened to him when he was set to begin his world-wide trek this week. About 50 people cheered Pratt on at the official starting line.
The 19-year old man started off on his 18,000-mile trek, but discovered he had forgotten his lunch, two egg sandwiches he had packed the previous day. So, his parents brought Pratt his sandwiches and he stuffed them into his already tightly packed pannier bag. That meant that he first lost both time and miles when he tried to get going on the trip.
Delay continued however, as Pratt’s pannier bag broke its zipper and he had to bike back home to get it fixed. One of his friends managed to replace the zippers in the pannier for Pratt and he went off again. At the end of the day he only managed to officially clock seven miles from home to where he had realized he didn’t have his lunch.
By noon the next day Pratt had made up for the slow start and was able to get about 40 miles to the town of Weymouth. He plans to try to complete his ride on his unicycle to help earn money for the charity School in a Bag in two years’ time. The School in a Bag charity gives stationary gear and resources to help poor, parentless, vulnerable or otherwise disaster affected children to be able to write, draw, color and learn. It helps children to explore their skills and show them that they can be more than just someone in a troubled state and that their skills could take them far.
During this around the globe endeavor, Pratt plans to ride the 36-inch Nimbus Oracle unicycle from Portugal and Spain, and then the southern coast of France headed to England. Also included is the northern coast of France and then into the Netherlands, from there through Europe, after that through China, and then he will continue his trek down to Southeast Asia and finally across the continents of Australia and America.
Pratt carries camping gear to help save money on the trip and to be more flexible. He has a tent, sleeping bag, stove, etc. in his bags. He says that he has always wanted to travel around the world and it was his idea to take the trek from the seat of a unicycle. He plans to sight see and explore during his travels and doesn’t plan on doing the trip without stopping.
