They say it’s darkest right before the dawn, and that was certainly the case as Matthew Huber mounted his unicycle on the steps of the State Capitol building Saturday at 5:10 a.m. to embark on his 117-mile unicycle ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.Huber saluted the city of Baton Rouge, reset his odometer and yelled, “Yeehaw!” Then the geology graduate student pedaled away — his blinking red taillight fading in the distance down River Road.Huber said he was nervous, but he knew he could accomplish his goal.Huber proved himself correct when he arrived at his final destination, the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, at 8:15 p.m., an hour shy of his pre-ride estimated time of 16 hours.But, instead of joy, Huber felt only exhaustion, and a miscommunication with his peer Amy Cone, who was picking him up for the drive back to Baton Rouge, made his bed almost more important than his accomplishment.”We didn’t pick him up until 11:30 [p.m.] because we misunderstood about where we would meet,” said Cone, geology graduate student. “We found him waiting at Café Du Monde. He was really tired. He slept the whole way back.”Huber said when he arrived home around 12:30 a.m., he talked about the day’s journey with his neighbors over wine and then went to bed, not waking up until Sunday afternoon.Huber’s journey proved to be more than a tale of exhaustion. It is also a tale of personal achievement, and for Huber, the joy that comes from a personal best hit him at the 100-mile mark on his ride.”I felt really good through 100 miles,” he said. “The number 100 was really important to me. Between 90 and 100 miles, I pushed really hard. As a result, I made 100 miles in 12 hours. That had become a big objective, so I was coaching myself a lot to keep my speed up.”Huber hit 100 miles at a top speed of 15.6 mph on the corner of Highway 90 and Lapalco Boulevard around 5:15 p.m. He said he stopped to update his Facebook and jump for joy.
“Some people stopped to see if I needed help,” he said.Huber said even though the final 17 miles were the toughest part of the day, he never felt like giving up.”It’s worth it,” he said. “It’s important to ride enough and know what you’re capable of. I felt great the whole day, and that reflected my training [on the unicycle]. I averaged over 10 mph the whole trip, which was another one of my goals.”Huber started unicycling on Nicholson, turned onto River Road and made his way to the Plaquemine Ferry Landing. Then, Huber headed down LA-1 for 17 miles, ending up just outside of Donaldsonville to eat Sonic, fill his unicycle tire with air and refuel on Gatorade. Huber travelled a few more small highways after lunch before reaching Highway 90, where 10 miles down marked Huber’s 100-mile marker.After taking the Algiers ferry, Huber rode into the French Quarter on Tchoupitoulas Street.He said he stayed on his unicycle the whole way except for the ferry rides and a few spots on Canal and Bourbon streets, where the amount of people made unicycling difficult.Huber said he stopped to take a break every 10 miles during the first 50 miles. He said he took longer breaks every 20 miles to eat and rehydrate. Huber said he stopped every 5 to 7 miles after the first 50 miles, and the entire ride was smooth except one minor accidental fall around the 85-mile mark.”I didn’t get injured, but I’m incredibly sore,” he said. “I’ll treat myself to a big meal today.”Huber said his meal of choice is steak and potatoes.”This is a ride I’ve been wanting to do since April and May, and now I’ve done it,” he said. “It was a really great experience. I did it, and it does make me happy. Maybe I’ll do it again, or maybe I’ll work on my speed. I haven’t set another goal yet.”–Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]