Saturday, September 29, 2007

Unicycle record

A student is trying to break a world record by covering the longest distance on a unicycle in 24 hours. Aberystwyth University computer science undergraduate Sam Wakeling must circle a 400m track more than 1,000 times on one 36-inch wheel.

The 22-year-old from Bath said he had been practising hard to overtake New Zealander Ken Looi's record of 235.3 miles. He hopes his efforts will raise the record to some 300 miles. His attempt started on Saturday morning on the university's athletics track.

Speaking beforehand, he said: "It will probably be the most exhausting thing I have ever done, but I wouldn't plan an attempt at this record if there wasn't a chance of breaking it.

"This unicycle has become my main form of transport, and my longest distance is 150 miles (241.3km) in a day when I rode to Manchester recently, so I have a fairly good idea of what it may feel like."

In 2005, he unicycled from Land's End to John O'Groats with three other Aberystwyth students to raise money for Christian international development charity Tearfund.

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