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Max on single-minded mission
6:36am Thursday 28th August 2008
Max Stevenson is attempting to travel around Europe's largest lake on one wheel.
The 20-year-old, from Norham Gardens, North Oxford, wants to become the first person to conquer Lake Geneva in Switzerland on a unicycle to raise £10,000 for street children and orphans in India.
The former Dragon School pupil set off on the five-day, 125-mile adventure with friend Georgina Hicks, ofLondon, on Monday and is due to finish tomorrow.
Speaking from Switzerland, he said he had been training hard for the charity trip.
He said: "We should complete 25 miles a day, but it could be faster. Unicycles are not quick in comparison to normal bikes.
"I'm a little nervous, but really looking forward to getting started."
Mr Stevenson was inspired to raise funds after spending six months in India last year helping Future Hope, a children's charity based in Calcutta. There are more than 100,000 homeless children in the city and Future Hope has provided shelter, education and a new life to thousands since it formed almost 20 years ago.
Mr Stevenson found a rickety old unicycle at one of Future Hope's six homes in Calcutta.
He said: "It was very, very hard to ride. The tyre was completely flat, the seat bent and the cranks uneven."
The unicycle he is using in Switzerland is more modern but no less of a challenge.
Mr Stevenson, who has helped raise more than £4,000 of the £10,000 target, explained: "Unicycles have no gears and no chain.
"When you push down on the peddle that pressure moves the wheel. It's very direct and you have to pedal up and downhill."
To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/onewheeledmaxandgeorge
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