One Wheel-Many Spokes: USA by Unicycle

by Lars Christian Clausen, Bob Kerry (Foreword), Anne Clausen (Illustrator)

Presents a story of a man riding a unicycle across America. The author tells of his 50-state unicycle trip from the West Coast to the Statue of Liberty and back again. He describes his spoke-by-spoke trek through a Mojave dust storm, past breathtaking, snow-capped Montana mountains, and close to a raging hurricane.

Genres: Memoir, Travel

280 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

Reviews

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in spots, fairly repetitive. Probably would have liked it more if I'd read it when it was new, I feel like it lives in its time. His reflections on faith, culture, and Native history are worthwhile but felt a little bit white guy naval-gazey. I wanted the story of his wife in the constantly broken RV with two small kids.

[Isaac Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through the last few chapters, I was having dreams about riding up and down ten percent grades on a unicycle. Just dreaming about it is exhausting. It's interesting to read between the lines to make some guesses about what it was really like for his wife and two children, following in the 1978 RV.

I also wonder how much of the 5 milion dollar endowment he ended up raising-- I think he mentions that by the end of the trip he had $30,000? It's for the Inupiat Lutheran Mission in Alaska where dude was a pastor for three years. He's appropriately aware and thoughtful about Native history as he passes through the various landscapes of each state, and it's this that makes the book worth reading. That, and confirmation that unless you're a really big fan of milkshakes and hamburgers, there's not much worth eating between Seattle and Manhattan....

Ah, just saw that he did another unicycle ride (and wrote another book) to raise awareness about gay rights. Wonder if the RV made it across again.