It’s a world first. Next summer, teams of elite cyclists will converge on Yarmouth, NS to take part. The race? Five stages covering 800 km (500 mi) from Yarmouth to Cape Breton. It’s a noteworthy adventure in its own right, a kind of Tour de France around Canada’s scenic east coast Maritimes. But here’s the twist: it’s a unicycle race — a “unicycle marathon,” actually.
The five-day, first-of-its-kind-anywhere event colourfully dubbed “Ride The Lobster” takes unicyclists through six of Nova Scotia’s seven tourist regions, including stops in Annapolis Royal, Halifax and Antigonish. An Annapolis Valley-based nonprofit society — Ride The Lobster — is the organizer. Europe has hosted extended unicycle trips, most recently the Mediterranean Unicycle Tour in summer 2007; and Newfoundland and Labrador’s David Cox signed up as the first Canadian rider.
Cox trained for his first unicycle endurance test in nearby Nova Scotia. “I rode 500 km (310 mi) solo, from North Sydney to Halifax, to take in the Busker Festival, couch-surf and get back home somehow,” says Cox. “My inspiration to start long-distance unicycle touring came from a number of people, especially (accomplished US rider) Andy Cotter.”
Cox says most race observers remain dumbfounded by the sight of dozens of single-wheelers cycling at full tilt along local roads and bike paths. He still gets asked where his other wheel is, to which he invariably replies, “You mean the training wheel?”
www.ridethelobster.com
mut.unitours.org