JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Biking from Maine to Key West sounds taxing enough, right? Well, imagine making that nearly 2,000-mile ride on a unicycle.
That’s what one man is doing to raise money and awareness for better infrastructure. On Sunday night, he’s in St. Augustine.
Avery Seuter, 19, is originally from Jacksonville, but now lives in Maine. With this trip to Key West, he hopes to inspire people to donate to something called the East Coast Greenway. It’s a network that’s still being worked on, but will eventually connect cycling trails into one complete route.
″It’s a conversation starter,” he said of his one-wheel journey. “It’s a way to create connections with people who I may otherwise not get to speak with. But it also gets attention.”
That’s what gave Seuter an idea. Since early September, he’s unicycled roughly 1,800 miles, crossing through 15 states. Along the way, he’s seen some neat places and met some great people.
“Everybody who I stay with gets to sign my helmet, so I’ve collected a lot of names. It’s kind of a record of everyone I’ve met along the way,” Seuter said.
With this journey, Seuter hopes to inspire others to get out and dare to do something different.
“If they live near one of the greenways, just go check it out,” he said. “It’s a tremendous asset to the communities and I think it’s really fun to be able to get out and ride on some of these trails. And if you don’t have the greenways near you, or if there’s no safe way to cycle, I’d encourage people to maybe get involved at the local level and see if you can start advocating for some of that,” he said.
Through his Instagram, Seuter has been able to raise about $2,000 for the East Coast Greenway. People can go there to donate. He’s heading south again Monday and says he can travel roughly 20 to 30 miles per day. He expects to get there in the next five weeks or so.