Edward Pratt
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Edward Pratt, also known as Ed Pratt, is a British
unicyclist A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a frame with a saddle, and has a pedal-driven direct-drive. A two speed hub is commercially available for faster unicycling. Unicycling is practic ...
and
YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influent ...
best known for circumnavigating the globe on a
unicycle A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a bicycle frame, frame with a bicycle saddle, saddle, and has a human-powered vehicle, pedal-driven direct-drive mechanism, direct-drive. A two spee ...
.


World unicycle tour


Overview

In March 2015 a then 19-year old Pratt set off from his hometown
Curry Rivel Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,148. The parish includes the hamlet of Burton Pynsent. History The ...
, near
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
. He pedalled across the world for 3 years and 135 days, cycling approximately 21,000 miles or 33,800 kilometers. He filmed his trip and posted videos about it on his YouTube channel Ed Pratt. He ended his trip at the headquarters o
School in a Bag
a local charity providing backpacks containing educational tools and materials for poor and vulnerable children around the world, for which he raised over £300,000 over the course of his trip. For this achievement he was rewarded with a
Points of Light Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points ...
award by
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
.


Motivation and preparation

Pratt stated:
The reason I've decided to undertake this ride: it's mainly just because I want to travel. I finished my A-levels last year and decided that now is probably the best time to attempt something like this. I want to see the world, and in my mind the best way to do it under my own power, from the saddle of a unicycle. My world unicycle tour will be raising money and awareness for School in a Bag
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
provides aid in the form of school bags (small rucksacks), to disadvantaged children throughout the world. Each school bag is filled with stationary, equipment and resources that will enable the child to write, draw, color, calculate, express themselves, and above all, learn. I'm aiming to raise £7,500 which is equivalent to 500 school bags. I'm a little scared about the ride but very excited. I've got no idea what'll happen, or if I can even make it, but that's kind of the point isn't: it it's an adventure. I just can't wait to get on the road and start pedaling.
Luke Simon, of School in a Bag, said:
What we'd love to try and achieve is for Ed to actually cycle through a community or a town where we've actually distributed school bags. That would be the icing on the cake, I think, for us, and maybe for his trip too.
As part of his preparation, Pratt did a 350-mile, 10 day "really tough, but fantastic fun" practice unicycle ride, with luggage, including camping gear, from his home in Somerset to Lancaster University. He estimated that the tour itself would cover 18,000 miles and take a minimum of 18 months. After completing the his tour, Pratt stated:
Even though I didn't follow all of Guinness's regulations, I did employ one of my own that I stuck to religiously over the three years that was if I was on land I could only make progress under my own power ... cycling or walking nd pushing the unicycle... The reason I think I employed this self-imposed rule was to keep myself motivated mentally when things got tough: I felt that if I allow myself to skip a section even for a couple of miles it would ultimately undermine my desire to continue. So I take pride in knowing that, apart from the watery bits, there's an unbroken unicycle tire track around the entire planet, which I think's pretty cool.


Route followed


Details

Pratt started his journey in March 2015, heading from his hometown
Curry Rivel Curry Rivel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Somerton and east of Taunton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,148. The parish includes the hamlet of Burton Pynsent. History The ...
to
Chilthorne Domer Chilthorne Domer is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 574. It is situated on the old coach road from Ilchester to Yeovil. History The villa ...
, where his trip would officially start. Unfortunately, merely 7 miles after setting off, his custom made pannier bags ripped and he was forced to turn back and repair the zippers. After his false start he set off again the next day at noon. His route would take him across the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
into France. From here he travelled along the north coast of France towards the Netherlands and then further east across Europe. After passing through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan he crossed the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
into
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. It was at this point that he was being challenged by the icy and slippery wintery conditions and general lack of road safety, narrowly escaping involvement in a roadside accident. A 6-month hiatus ensued during which he resided in
Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...
,
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
where he taught English. After the winter he travelled back from Bishkek to the point where he last stopped unicycling in Kazakhstan and continued his unicycling trip from there. From Kazakhstan he continued further east. He first passed through China for a total of 3,403 miles in 6 months, after which he went through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia. He ended the Asian leg of his trip in Singapore. From here he flew to Perth to continue across Australia and New Zealand. During his stretch across
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
Pratt crossed paths with
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
endurance athlete Mark Beaumont while he was on his world record attempt around the world. The last major leg of his trip brought him across the United States, having first arrived by plane in San Francisco from
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand. He crossed the US from west to east, ending his American leg in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. From here he flew to Edinburgh to end his journey with a final 500 miles through his home country towards Somerset. He arrived back home in July 2018, more than 3 years after first setting off. In October 2018, a few months after his homecoming, he was awarded the 1015th
Points of Light Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service. Each year, Points ...
award and personally commended by Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
through a letter. Throughout his whole trip he was unsupported and the total distance was completed in its entirety on, or pushing, a 36-inch unicycle.


Finances

Pratt estimated his total spend for the tour as £22,982. The initial kit came to £1,674. The rest was spent on visas, paid transport, food and accommodation, replacement kit, and his tracker subscription. (The tracker was a device he carried which transmitted location data so that the general public could find out where he was by visiting a website. The data was updated roughly every half an hour. The device also had an SOS button.) He estimated his income during the tour as £14,800. This came from advertising related to videos he had uploaded, teaching, and donations (these donations were money donated specifically to him, and were kept separate from donations to charity). He also got income in-kind: during the trip people sometimes gave him, or paid for, food, accommodation, transport or equipment. He often wild-camped (with no money involved). Income continued after the tour, from giving talks, and from the videos. In a video published on 8 May 2020, Pratt said that the whole cost of the tour had been recouped. Regarding the future, Pratt said "I'm now going on to work out to kind of turn this kind of adventuring into a business".


See also

* Around the world cycling record#Unicycling


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Edward Unicyclists 1990s births Year of birth uncertain Living people