Unicycling has arguably been around since there have been wheels and chairs. That’s just science. Charity has been around for a pretty long time too. So it’s fitting that these two ancient disciplines would come together in the Counter Balance ‘Freedom Revolution Tour,’ which is raising funds to provide disadvantaged school kids with shoes.

On the whole, unicycling creeps me out. It brings together unsettling images of circus folk and the prawn costume – never a good combination. I’m willing to put my crippling fear of these bizarre half-bicycles on hold, however, so I can tell you fine folks about the Freedom Revolution tour, which has these guys do a sponsored, 44-day unicycle trek from Durban to Cape Town, in an attempt to raise money for the Bobs for Good Foundation.

Says the site:

“[The unicyclists] will follow the dirt-track trail across the interior of South Africa to Paarl in the Western Cape before completing the final 100km to Cape Town…. You really don’t want to miss this. And, if you bookmark this website right now, we’ll ensure that you catch every drama, every fall, every bump on the head, every lump in the throat, every triumph, every crazy experience along the way… it will be like you are right there with us. And you will be.”

These guys started out on the 27th of November, and they’re doing pretty well so far – if you head on over to their website, you can check the progress of the trip, the amount of money raised so far (at the time of writing, just under R200,000.00 – but they’re shooting for R500k), and take a peek at the photos taken by the backup/blogging team. If you use your thumb to hide the unicyclists, the photos are pretty rad.

It’s a pretty cool way to spend the holiday season, and it’s for a pretty cool initiative – so I’d advise you shoe-loving, unicycle-fearing guys and gals to check it out.

[counterbalance]