Ed Pratt: World unicycle bid man crosses Europe

Ed Pratt set off on his around the world unicycle challenge in March

A man from Somerset bidding to be the first person to unicycle around the world has crossed his first continent.

Ed Pratt, 19, left his home in Curry Rivel, near Taunton, in March to begin the 18,000-mile (29,000 km) challenge in aid of the School In A Bag charity.

He has so far biked across France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria and into Turkey.

He said it felt "amazing" to arrive in Istanbul after three months.

"I can't wait to start making some more progress into Turkey and excited to reveal what the second continent of this amazing tour has to offer."

The remainder of his route includes China, south-east Asia, Australia and the United States.

He will then sail over the Atlantic before cycling through Portugal and Spain, the southern coast of France and back to England.

He expects the entire journey to take about 18 months.

The unicycle enthusiast, who is pedalling a 36-inch Nimbus Oracle unicycle, said he wanted to thank "all the Europeans that hosted me, filled up my water bottles, fed me, fixed the unicycle, bought me beer, cheered as I rode past and wrote kind words of encouragement through messages and comments".

Mr Pratt first learned how to unicycle two years ago and set up a unicycle club at his former school, Wellington School, and completed the 140-mile C2C route.