Talk:Ed Pratt

Recommend move article to Ed Pratt (or at least create a re-direct from Ed Pratt)

The following use the form Ed Pratt:

• all the news articles I have found (about 15) and one already in the article
• his own YouTube channel
• Unicycle#Notable_unicyclists

FrankSier (talk) 19:09, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

agree. I don't know how to do that though Zyntra (talk) 11:46, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

I have done a Re-direct before, though I would have to remind myself of the details. I don't think I've done a Move, though I have read about it. It's a bit complicated because of needing to preserve the history, or something like that. I have noticed that he often introduces himself as Edward, with a non-English/British pronunciation, pronouncing the 'w' as a 'v', which is I guess because a non-English speaker would probably find Ed, or the British English pronunciation of Edward (Edw'd), quite difficult to catch or pronounce. So I think both Ed and Edward should be in the article, but I don't know in what form. FrankSier (talk) 17:28, 12 July 2020 (UTC)

I have created a redirect from Ed Pratt. FrankSier (talk) 20:35, 5 August 2020 (UTC)

I have noticed that at the beginning of the first video in his playlist covering the tour on YouTube he introduces himself as "Edward Pratt", and uses Edward quite often when talking to people in the videos, using the probably Russian pronunciation - pronouncing w as English v sound - maybe just in relevant areas of the world. I am guessing that using this longer version, rather than just 'Ed', is easier for speakers of other languages, especially if they have an corresponding name in their language. Saying just 'Ed' might sound a bit like a cough or a grunt. So, I am happy to leave the title as "Edward Pratt". FrankSier (talk) 14:52, 17 August 2020 (UTC)

Some refs that might be useful

• Somerset unicyclist completes round-the-world trip
• World Unicycle tour: Ed Pratt rides around the world on a Unicycle
• Ed Pratt is first person to unicycle around the world as he passes finishing line in Somerset
• In Case You Ever Want to Unicycle 21,000 Miles... Here's the gear to do it
• Round-the-world unicyclist Ed Pratt handed cheque for $370,000 and this is what it means for a Somerset charity
• Brit unicyclist becomes first person ever to ride around the globe on one wheel
• Interview: Ed Pratt, the Somerset man who travelled the world on a unicycle
• ED PRATT UNICYCLES ACROSS THE USA (VIDEO)
• Round-the-world unicycle charity ride delayed by egg sandwiches
• Ed Pratt: Unicycling Around the World Series Oxford University Exploration Club Speaker Ed Pratt
• ED PRATT’SNIMBUS ORACLE 36"
• Ed Pratt World Unicycle Tour -18,000miles on 1 wheel!
• Briton Ed Pratt becomes first person to pedal around the world on a unicycle
• In 40 Months, He Became First Person to Unicycle Around the World – and He Did It All For Charity
• SOMERSET NEWS: Round-the-world unicyclist Ed is coming home!

FrankSier (talk) 19:31, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

The status of this (draft) article

Has been declined as an article, by Primefac, who has mentioned the issue of person notable for only one event. I have started communicating on User talk:Primefac. FrankSier (talk) 22:18, 5 July 2020 (UTC)

Primefac approved on 18 July 2020. FrankSier (talk) 10:40, 20 July 2020 (UTC)

Edinburgh?

The article says he went to Edinburgh, but his route map, both on https://www.worldunicycletour.com/route/ and the Google Maps https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1zvkKnd1zWY9iEPmKDkLRQBHp7pk&ll=50.60566427199665%2C17.441458130385257&z=5 version do not show this. I seem to remember seeing somewhere that he went to Scotland but don't know exactly where I saw it at the moment. Any ideas anyone? FrankSier (talk) 10:45, 23 July 2020 (UTC)

The route he mapped on Google Maps is not the exact route he ended up doing. He intended to go through Madrid as 2 antipodal points are a Guinness requirement for an 'around the world' tour. He failed it for some other reasons so in the end he decided against going through southern europe and instead went across the length of the UK as he wanted a longer final stretch in his homecountry. He also didnt go through, turkmenistan and Oezbekistan I think. Visa issues caused him to go through Kazachstan instead. I learned this from his YouTube channel, still looking for an independant source. Ill take a look at the list of countries he went to and correct it over the coming days. The source is flawed reallyZyntra (talk) 00:46, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Do you know what the route shown on https://www.worldunicycletour.com/route/ and https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1zvkKnd1zWY9iEPmKDkLRQBHp7pk&ll=45.994911266436915%2C21.615684334421726&z=5 represents? Was it his originally intended route? If so, maybe those refs and the present list of countries could eventually remain in the article to show his original plan. And his actual route route/list of countries given as well. FrankSier (talk) 20:25, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Yea the stuff on those 2 webpages are his original plan, not his actual route. I updated the list of countries to what he actually did. Dont see much value in mentioning both the actual as well as the uncompleted route tbh. The differences between them are small, and explanations wont be possible due to lack of sources.Zyntra (talk) 23:06, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

Planning the development of this article

Hello to other editors of this article,

I am interested in doing quite a lot of work on this article (not sure of my timescale, could be fairly soon, but I might be suddenly occupied by other things).

I am interested in doing some joint planning with other editors, if any other editors are also planning to work on it.

Here are some of the developments I am thinking of:

• Adding quite a lot more content.
• Adding a "Personal life" section such as some things about family & girlfriend.
• Adding more about the tour: things that make it unusual, about how it was achieved (as the average person might not have realised that such a thing was feasible at all), how it was financed, his motivation, what it was like to do (what was easy/difficult/enjoyable/unpleasant/dangerous/safe, people's reactions, equipment used and to what extent it needed replacing along the way, to what extent it was a first / a world tour / a record, how a lot of the video shots were achieved (such as how he got distant views of himself without help from other people).

As it was at least some sort of "first" then I think a fair amount of detail is reasonable - but I don't exactly know what that means in practise.

I think he may, or probably will, do some things in the future that will be worth adding to this article.

FrankSier (talk) 19:31, 13 August 2020 (UTC)

Hey Frank, I see you've done most of what you set out to write already. Great improvements! I see you used his own youtube videos as sources. I didnt realise that was allowed, so that makes things quite a bit easier. I do know there is a video somewhere on his channel about the self-filming. Some great moments include the shot with the camel and the shot with the bird eating roadkill. Both instances got some screentime, but I'll have to look at exactly which episodes they were. I do remember the drone came into play as of the start of his American leg. I will have some time next week to write some stuff on the videography part of things, unless you beat me to it of course! It would surprise me too if the dude stopped here, surely hes going to do something else noteworthy.Zyntra (talk) 08:26, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

Hi Zyntra, using self-published sources, and using YouTube, are both things that one is supposed to be careful about, I think, but I also think this is one of the cases where it is okay. Here are some WP policy links:

• Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Avoid_self-published_sources "Never use self-published sources—including but not limited to books, zines, websites, blogs, and tweets—as sources of material about a living person, unless written or published by the subject of the article". See also the section following that "Using the subject as a self-published source".
• Wikipedia:External_links#Linking_to_user-submitted_video_sites "While there is no blanket ban on linking to YouTube or other user-submitted video sites, the links must abide by the guidelines on this page."

I think it is okay to say "Pratt said this..." & give references that he said it; but not to use his opinions as true where there is no (other) reliable evidence that that thing is true, especially if one does not say where the opinions came from. Also, there would be a problem I think if it looked as if the whole trip was fictitious, but I think the YouTube videos are pretty good evidence that he did what he said he did. I think one can use one's own judgement towards whether something is reliable or not. If other editor(s) said it looked dubious, or web searches found other people saying it was dubious, then I think that would need to be looked into.

FrankSier (talk) 10:13, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

I have put some resources to help with editing this article at User_talk:FrankSier#Ed_Pratt_World_Unicycle_Tour,_YouTube_playlist_index. They include an index of the relevant YouTube videos, some notes I made from his Q&A video, and more detail about other possible things to add. These resources are quite long, which is why I have not put them directly in this talk page. This is the first time I have had a go at using my own User talk page in this way so I am not quite sure how it will go.

FrankSier (talk) 11:46, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

He has put an extra vid, about the Kaz. stage, at the end of the playlist, at 127. I have modified my index accordingly. FrankSier (talk) 17:03, 27 August 2020 (UTC)

I have put his YouTube playlist for this trip as a reference for the "Route followed" section. It could possibly be improved by have more detailed references for each part of the route. FrankSier (talk) 19:50, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

About the Details section: rename Chronology? Timeline? or its contents going elsewhere?

The section presently called Details was originally most of the body of the article. I gave it the name Details (when I created other sections) for the lack of a better name. I do not think Details is a good name. I was thinking of "Chronology" or "Timeline", as these describe roughly what it consists of.

Another possibility is that it disappears altogether as content from it goes to other sections. For example, some of its content already appears in "Route followed". However, even if it disappears later, it still needs a name now.

FrankSier (talk) 12:11, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

Date of birth

On 9 December 2019 Ed Pratt posted on Facebook “Yesterday marked my 24th birthday!!! (8th Dec 2019)” https://www.facebook.com/MrEdPratt/posts/yesterday-marked-my-24th-birthday-8th-dec-2019to-celebrate-aishola-and-i-headed-/2555922017970635/ which makes his date of birth 8 December 1995.

Is this a good enough reference?

I note though that 18 December 1995 was added as date of birth with this edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ed_Pratt&diff=prev&oldid=1299874314 with an Edit Summary of “(Add exact birth date per visa's shown in YouTube videos) but without a reference. FrankSier (talk) 11:28, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

Name

The article is presently titled Ed Pratt, but starts Edward Pratt.... The article earlier included also known as Ed Pratt but that was removed on 8 Aug 2023, without discussion or an Edit Summary. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ed_Pratt&diff=prev&oldid=1169332454

Use of also known as is common in Wikipedia, and I think is suitable in this case. I suggest replacing the also known as Ed Pratt. Any opinions? FrankSier (talk) 11:35, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

MOS:HYPOCORISM and WP:COMMONNAME cover this – We should use the common name (Ed Pratt) for the article title, but the full name (Edward Pratt) in the lead. As "Ed" is a common hypocorism of "Edward", we don't need to include/explain. MIDI (talk) 11:42, 17 November 2025 (UTC)

About two-thirds of article removed without discussion

There were edit summaries for these removals, but no actual discussion in the Talk page.

This was done by 2 edits.

First on 2 July 2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ed_Pratt&diff=prev&oldid=1232192293

2,073 bytes removed, about one sixth of the article at that time

Edit summary was: “(ce; unnecessary quotes (there is nothing being said that isn't better than paraphrasing))” .

My observation: a lot info was removed rather than just paraphrased.

Second on 27 April 2025: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ed_Pratt&diff=prev&oldid=1287614632

4,298 bytes removed, nearly halving the article’s size.

Edit summary was: “(This article is a biography; it's not about the round-the-world cycle. This is far too great a level of detail for the biography – if the cycle tour is the more notable thing, then that's what the article should be...)”

I think a more suitable course of action would have been to suggest that a lot of the material be moved to an article about the world unicycle tour, but it was simply deleted instead. FrankSier (talk) 11:57, 17 November 2025 (UTC)