Man sets off round the world on a unicycle

Most people would probably struggle to get up onto a unicycle at all, especially one this size with a 36 inch wheel, but Ed Pratt is taking on an extraordinary challenge to ride around the world on one wheel, something nobody's ever done before. He'll come across roads far less forgiving that the smooth flat tarmac around his home on the Somerset Levels, but he's sure he can manage it.

I wouldn't be attempting it if I didn't. It's very doable. You just get up, you cycle, you sleep and you just repeat that day after day. It's just doing it day after day is definitely going to be tough but I reckon I'll get into it and it'll work.

If it gets too steep I'll just get off and walk and then I'll just get back on at the top but as the trip progresses I'll get fitter and I'll be able to get up steeper and steeper hills.

The unicycle has customised panniers to carry 25 kilos of food, water, a tent, sleeping bag and stove. He'll be riding alone but doesn't expect it to be a lonely trip.

Just meeting people on the road and hopefully staying with some of them, experiencing different cultures and eating different foods. That's the thing I'm looking forward to. I'm looking forward to eating a lot of street food and food that I wouldn't normally be exposed to.

Ed will be raising money for the School in a Bag charity, based just down the road from him near Yeovil, which provides vital learning equipment for vulnerable and disaster affected children around the world.

He just dropped us an email out of the blue actually and said why should I choose you as a charity and I wrote back and gave him a few pointers and then suggested he came over and we were just enthralled by it and, having travelled a lot, I was just so excited for him. We're really in awe of what he's about to do and we're just delighted that he's doing it to support School in a Bag.

I'm working on about three or four months per continent so Europe will be three or four months getting down to Turkey and then the whole trip I'm looking at about 18 months minimum but it's probably going to be more like 2 years.

He'll also be packing a computer for blogging and posting videos to keep friends and supporters back home updated on every leg of his one wheel world tour. Bob Cruwys ITV News Somerset.