A TEENAGER aiming to become the first person to unicycle around the world has suspended his adventure after almost being hit by a car.

Ed Pratt left his home in Curry Rivel, near Taunton, in March to begin his 18,000-mile one-wheeled adventure - in aid of county charity School In A Bag.

The 19-year-old carries a tent, sleeping bag, camping stove and other kit in panniers attached to his 36in Nimbus Oracle unicyle.

He crossed Europe in March and cycled through to central Asia, conquering torrential rain, sub-zero conditions and rough roads.

He reached Aktobe in Kazakhstan and set off on a slushy road, with temperatures at minus 3C.

However, three miles after leaving Aktobe, a hatchback travelling in the opposite direction spun on the road, crossed the central line and headed towards Mr Pratt.

He jumped off his unicycle - leaving it to smash to the ground - and sprinted to the sludge-covered bank.

The spinning hatchback crashed into a car overtaking Mr Pratt, with one of the drivers left limping from his vehicle.

Somerset County Gazette: ED relaxing in Budapest - photo taken from www.facebook.com/MrEdPratt

Mr Pratt, who aims to complete the charity trip in two years to raise funds for global education charity School In A Bag, decided to suspend his challenge due to the road conditions.

"After I had established that no one was badly hurt, I picked up the uni and walked the 300 metres to the nearby fuel station," he said.

"After kindly being set up with tea and cake, I sat down to have a serious think. I potentially had another 1,000 miles of these ice-covered roads.

"I felt the risk of a repeat of an incident like this was too high. And I knew that once away from civilisation, the traffic would mainly consist of heavy lorries thundering down the highway.

"What if one of these lost control? I'd have no chance. Was it really worth risking my life for this ride?

"Of course the answer to this question is no, so I made the painful decision to pause the ride right there, just 150 miles after returning to the country and to continue the tour next year when the road improved.

"This was an extremely difficult decision to make and I'm still struggling with it slightly, but in this case it's definitely better to be safe than sorry and, for me, this level of risk was just unacceptable."


Related articles


Mr Pratt has returned to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and plans to spend the winter there before returning to Kazakhstan when the roads have improved next year.

He is looking for accommodation and a job, with plans to then head into the mountains and explore Kyrgyzstan's landscape.

Mr Pratt learned how to unicycle two years ago and set up a club at his former school, Wellington School, and completed the 140-mile C2C route from the Cumbrian coast to the North Sea coast in the North East.

The School In A Bag charity provides stationery, equipment and resources to enable poor, orphaned, vulnerable or disaster-affected child to write, draw, colour and learn.

His journey can be followed on worldunicycletour.com.