Edward Pratt (born) is a British unicyclist and YouTuber best known for circumnavigating the globe on a unicycle.
In March 2015, 19-year old Pratt set off from his home in Curry Rivel, near Taunton, Somerset.[1] He pedalled across the world for three years and 135 days, cycling approximately 21000miles. He filmed his trip and posted videos about it on his YouTube channel.[2] He ended his trip at the headquarters of 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.[3] For this achievement he was rewarded with a Points of Light award by Theresa May.[4] [5]
Pratt stated that his main reason for undertaking the ride was his desire to travel after his A-levels and to raise money for charity. His target was £7,500.[6] His preparation for the challenge included a 350miles ride from Somerset to Lancaster University with his luggage and camping equipment.[7]
| Continent | Countries | |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | UK (England), (ferry across English Channel), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey | |
| Asia | Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, (ferry across Caspian Sea), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (again), China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore | |
| (flight: Singapore to Perth) | ||
| Oceania | Australia, (flight: Sydney, Australia to South Island, New Zealand), New Zealand | |
| (flight: North Island, New Zealand to San Francisco) | ||
| America | USA | |
| (flight: New York to Edinburgh) | ||
| Europe | UK (Edinburgh, Scotland to Chilthorne Domer, Somerset, England) |
Pratt started his journey in March 2015, heading from his hometown Curry Rivel to Chilthorne Domer, where his trip would officially start. After, his custom pannier bags ripped and he was forced to turn back to repair them. He set off again the next day at noon. His route would take him across the English Channel into France. From there he travelled along the north coast of France towards the Netherlands and then further east across Europe.[9]
After passing through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan he crossed the Caspian Sea into Kazakhstan. 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.[10] For six months he resided in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 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 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 Pratt crossed paths with British endurance athlete Mark Beaumont while he was on his world record attempt around the world.[11] [12]
The last major leg of his trip brought him across the United States, having first arrived by plane in San Francisco from Auckland, New Zealand. He crossed the US from west to east, ending in New York. From there he flew to Edinburgh to end his journey with a final 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 award and was commended by Prime Minister Theresa May through a letter.[13]
Throughout his whole trip he was unsupported and the total distance was completed in its entirety on, or pushing, a 36inches unicycle.[14]
After completing his tour, Pratt acknowledged that while he did not follow Guinness World Record regulations, he stuck to his own rules which required him to only progress under his own power by cycling, walking, or pushing the unicycle. He stated that he took pride in knowing that "there's an unbroken unicycle tire track around the entire planet".[15]
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.)[16]
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".[17]