Central Oregonian

One wheel is enough for him

Unicyclist is scheduled to finish a cross-country trip this Saturday

Lon Austin

August 12, 2010

Sky “Sideshow” Horne is an adventurer.

Last year, the 21-year-old hiked the 2,178-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

This year, the Brevard, N.C. resident decided to challenge himself even more, with a unicycle trip across the United States.

On Monday evening Horne reached Prineville, just days from his final destination.

“I’m traveling on the TranaAmerica Trail from Yorktown, Va. to Astoria, Ore.,” Horne said. “The route goes through Eugene, and you guys are in the way.”

Horne stayed Monday night at the home of Kim Kambak and Dennis Kostelecky, both of whom are members of an organization called Warmshowers, which provides shelter and a place to shower for cyclists on long trips.

“We had 17 bicyclists on the TransAmerica Trail stay here during a five-day period in June,” Kostelecky said.

He added that during the last several years, the couple has hosted hundreds of cyclists, but this is the first unicyclist that they have provided shelter for. In addition, most riders taking the TransAmerica trail ride from west to east because the trip is easier that way.

“Yeah, I took the hard way,” Horne added. “I’ve had lots of hot weather, some severe thunderstorms, and I’ve been bucking the wind most of the way.”

Horne said that he doesn’t mind riding in the rain, since it cools you down on a hot day, but that it does cause some problems.

“When it rains my brakes don’t really work, and it gets a little slippery on my pedals,” he said. “But rain actually feels good. And it’s motivating when a downpour starts because then you really want to get somewhere and get out of the weather.”

There have only been a handful of unicyclists cross the United States and, as far as he knows, Horne is the first to travel the full distance of the TransAmerica Trail.

The first unicyclist known to travel across the entire continent was Keith Cash, who accomplished the feat in 1981. In 2005, Lars Clausen completed a 6,200-mile trek that included rides in all 50 states.

Although the 4,262 mile long TransAmerical Trail officially ends in Astoria, Horne is planning on adding some distance to his route. He will pedal back up the Columbia River Gorge to Portland to end his trip. He began his trip on April 23, and will officially finish his trek when he flies out of Portland, Ore., on Saturday, Aug. 21.

Horne has completed the entire trip solo. He travels with a 22-liter backpack which contains approximately seven pounds of gear, along with a water bottle and tool kit. Both the water bottle and tool kit are attached to the frame of he unicycle.

The unicycle has an extra large 36-inch diameter wheel, brakes on a small bar above the seat, and a bar he which can attach for long rides to hold onto and increase his leverage.

Horne, who has only been riding unicycles for three years, took the trip to try to prove that unicycles are not just made for circus performers.

“I want to dispel the belief that unicyclists are only performers,” he said. “More of us want to be involved in action sports than performers. We are involved in time-trials, and freestyle riding.”

He adds that anyone can learn to ride.

“Unicycling has nothing to do with balance,” he said. “It is a combination of muscle memory and reflexes. Anyone can learn to ride. It just takes an incredible amount of persistence.”

Horne has been averaging about 70 miles a day on the trip, and adds that he can average about 14 miles an hour.

“That’s a nice average distance that I can do day after day,” he said.

Horne added that he can reach speeds as high as 20 miles an hour for short distances on flat ground.

“Seventy miles a day on a unicycle,” Kambak said. “That’s just too weird.”

Although he usually tries to keep his mileage down each day, Horne had one especially long day during the trip when he rode the 220 miles from Scott City, Kan. to Pueblo, Colo. It took him 24 hours to finish.

“I thought it was the last day of flat land and I wanted to get it over with,” he said. “Then I got over the Rockies and found out that there was still a lot of flat land left.”

Unicycles create unique challenges in mountainous terrain. Unlike a bicycle they can’t coast downhill.

“You don’t really ride a unicycle as much as you control it,” Horne said. “When gravity is putting pressure on you then you have to put backpressure on your pedals, which ruins your knees. Going uphill you just have a positive force against you, which you can just kind of fight against. That’s much easier than resisting gravity.”

Horne, who makes a living installing carpet, saves as much money as possible while he is working, then takes time off for an adventure.

So what’s next? Horne said that he has plans to hike the Pacific Crest Trail sometime in the future.

More about Sky Horne

For more information about Sky Horne and his trip you can access his website at www.thirtysixer.com. The website name refers to the size of his unicycle tire. On the site Horne has maps of the route he took, photos and videos, as well as blogs of his accounts of the trip.

For additional information about the route he selected go to www.adventurecycling.org