A journey that began more than three years ago in the small village and civil parish of Curry Rivel in Somerset, England, is nearing its completion.
Unicyclist Ed Pratt set out March 14, 2015 on a round the world unicycle ride and his journey brought him through Indianola last week. Pratt was making his way from the west coast, San Francisco specifically, to his final U.S. stop in New York City before taking a flight back to England.
Pratt, who was 19 when he started, gets about on a unicycle with a 36-inch wheel, reportedly the largest they make. Aside from the occasional ferry or plane to cross the many bodies of water that he has encountered on his journey, Pratt has pedaled his way through France, across Europe to Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
He hopped a freight ship across the Caspian Sea, and then rode his cycle across Central Asia to Kyrgyzstan and China, where he spent six months. He then pedaled his way through Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore before taking a plane to Australia.
After meandering around the coast of Australia, he continued on across New Zealand and then made his way across the ocean to San Francisco and through Death Valley. Somehow his journey brought him to the Delta where he stopped briefly at the Shoppers Value Foods store to pick up some Vaseline.
From the U.S. 82 location, he will be making his way to the east coast to connect with his July 9 flight out of New York City headed for home.
His stopover in the Delta provided an opportunity to chat with some of the store’s employees and customers before heading out. Pratt wrote on his website, worldunicycletour.com, that “The ride isn’t about getting around as quickly as possible, but experiencing and engaging with the countries I pass through.”
He said riding the unicycle totally sets him free, allows him to see everything and interact with people. According to him, one of the most interesting people he has met was a British cyclist, in China, wearing a superhero costume. The cyclist was also traveling the world and they spent about a month traveling together.
He said they met in October 2016 near Tibet. Pratt said he has encountered other great people along the way including two boys, ages 10 and 15, who were yak farmers that got up at 5 a.m., each day to tend their herd.
As imaginable, Pratt has had some memorable experiences, from passing by hundreds of dead kangaroos along the western Australian roadsides, to the incredible winds of Death Valley.
He said the high mortality rate among the large marsupials is due to motorists hitting the animals as they come to feast on the vegetation near the roads. He said it doesn’t rain there often, but when it does the water accumulates in the ditches and produces the greenery.
As for the desert winds, “I’ve experienced bad winds before, when I was crossing Kazakhstan, but the wind in Death Valley was much worse.” Pratt said it took him two and a half days to walk across the vast terrain. “I managed to ride a few miles, but mostly walking,” he said. He lives mostly in a tent that he carries, along with his other gear, in two custom-made panniers.
In spite of it all, Pratt said unicycling is a “lovely way” of traveling and experiencing the world. “My goal is to become the first person ever to officially circumnavigate the globe on one wheel.”
