Port Macquarie unicyclists are ready to tackle a mountain biking challenge to ride the 460km Tasmanian Trail from Devonport in the north of the state to Dover in the south-east
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The adventure, scheduled for late 2021, is being organised by Port Macquarie teacher Lloyd Godson, who explored a passion for unicycling over the coronavirus isolation period.
Mr Godson has inspired a collective of fellow riders who meet weekly for a short five kilometre pedal to hone their skills.
"My long term goal is to get a bunch of adults trained up to mentor young people and help them ride. I'd like to undertake an expedition across Tasmania next year using mountain unicycles," Mr Godson said.
"The goal is that an adult takes on a young person as a mentor. We then do a group of five adults with five young people for the expedition across Tasmania.
"That would be a challenging ride but definitely not impossible. We have 18 months to prepare so we have time but it will be a real sense of achievement for everyone involved.
"The trail itself is really well mapped out and it's designed for bikes, horses and walkers. It's not technical because it's forest trail and country roads.
"We can break it down to 30km to 40km days which is quite achievable even if you have to walk steep sections. A support vehicle can access different parts of the track each day easily."
The renowned science teacher and World Teachers' Day Awardee said he'd taken up unicycling during the COVID-19 lockdown because of back soreness from trail running.
There are currently around 20 riders in the group, aged nine to their 40s.
Mr Godson said the 460km trek would take around 10 days to four weeks to accomplish.
"The idea is to show young people that through determination and focus they can successfully achieve unicycle riding. We will set lots of short term goals to achieve each new stage of the expedition," he said.
"The first step is for them to be able to ride for about 10 minutes continuously and then I will gift them a unicycle. The unicycle is theirs once they show they have the commitment and dedication to ride.
"Cycling is one of those things that takes persistence. You make minor improvements each time and it's a fun atmosphere."
Beginner unicyclist and Hastings Secondary College year 11 student Pheobie Brown said she'd just completed her second session of learning to cycle.
"It wasn't originally something I thought I wanted to do but when I heard about the club I thought it would be really cool to learn to ride one," Pheobie said.
"You have to have really good balance and be really patient. It's about learning the rhythm to it as you pedal.
"I'm currently riding with my hands on the unicycle so that I can feel better connected to it. Eventually I'll be riding without.
"The Tasmanian trip sounds pretty cool if I can learn to ride the unicycle well."
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