"I tracked you down through an old insurance claim, filed under terms of absolute secrecy"

...was not what this man said. He said it had been tricky to get my number, as it was printed wrong, along with my (not my correct) name, but somehow he had got my number and got me.

The anonymous 'he' turned out to be none other than (no, I'd not heard of him before either) Brian Davis, who told me he had been the very first person to unicycle the great End to End of Britain.

He'd done it in 1980, in 19 days, on a 28" unicycle, with a support vehicle for his stuff.

I'm doing it in 2005, in 23 days, on a 29" unicycle, with four (occasionally five) support cycles.

We had a nice chat about the ordeal, getting lots of carbs for breakfast, vicious drainage on the A9 beyond Perth and cramp at Bridgewater. He lives near John O' Groats now, but was born in Bath... which must be how he found out about me - from the local press today. He may even be able to visit the end point, to welcome us in to the finish!

It was amazing to have a call out of the blue from someone with a story like this. Makes the world feel a smaller, more beautiful place than ever.

He also said "oh, that's ideal" when I said what size wheel I use (29"). That was a nice change from "you must be mad, that's tiny" from the 36" brigade of modern unicyclists (I don't mean they're wrong... some of you know I'd love a 36", but it's not the be-all-and-end-all of distance unicycling).

It's all kicking off in under three weeks now. I can't wait!!