Dear fellow unicyclists:
At the end of April 2002, Lars Clausen climbed on his Coker unicycle and
began a ride across America, raising public awareness and funds for a
ministry project close to his heart. Lars is a Lutheran pastor. The
project is the Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo Ministry. The goal is $5 million
dollars for ministry programs, building programs and youth development,
to name a few.
5033 miles later, Lars reached his cycling goal and rolled onto the
Statue of Liberty Island in New York harbor. He also set at least one
Guinness World Record for distance unicycling, and will likely set
another before his trip ends. His story has been carried by wire
services nationally and he appeared on CNN. Unicycling friends and
family around the country sent us press clippings from their hometown
newspapers.
Lars continued his journey beyond New York and through the South,
stopping in Atlanta long enough for a Coker tune-up, and I had the
pleasure of riding with him. After about 14 miles I was saddle-sore, so
we walked a bit and stopped for lunch. At that point he had logged over
6,000 miles and wore out two Coker tires. He continued his journey for
another 50 miles that day, and will continue his daily ride until he
reaches home in Seattle. Only a unicyclist could understand and
appreciate the physical effort required for such a ride. Lars left one
of his comfortable home-made saddle covers, which we hope to make
available in the future.
When I replaced the bearings on his Coker, I asked Lars if I could
auction the old bearings on ebay as a historic piece of Americana, then
donate the entire amount to the Eskimo ministry. That brought a big
smile, and he agreed to send a personal letter of authenticity to the
new owner.
Thanks to unicyclist Gerard Poche from Michigan, who visited us today,
for suggesting this letter.
Here’s a link to the ebay listing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1866262833>
&item=1866262833
And here’s a link to Lars Clausen’s story:
http://www.onewheel.org <http://www.onewheel.org/>
Best regards,
John Drummond
