LOVELAND, OHIO - As a clown rode up Wall Street at mid-day last Tuesday the mailman exclaimed, “Well, it’s not everyday you see a clown on a unicycle.”
I replied back, “It’s not everyday you see a clown at noon on a work day, let alone one on a unicycle.”
However, I really didn’t find it that strange. Perhaps, because I had the feeling I had seen this clown before. So, a few minutes later when he rode back down the street, I shouted, “Hey... You live in Loveland?”
It turns out that Mophe (rhymes with loaf) is from Columbus, however he said that I may have seen him before, because last spring he was in Loveland for the first time, riding in the Alzheimer Walk. In fact I had seen him that day and took photos of him, but did not get a chance to talk to him.
I did not press Mophe, and he didn’t offer, but when I asked him his name he only said,”Mophe - Mophe the Clown.” He said it is a nickname from when he was very young.
Mophe has unicycled in forty-eight states, Alaska and Hawaii are still on his list. He has unicycled in 150 cities and has put more than 26,000 miles on his car. His goal, which he reached the day before, was to ride 1,000 miles for his favorite cause - GiftCardDonor.com.
Mophe said that he so enjoyed his brief visit to Loveland last spring that he wanted to return to see, “A little more of the town.” When at the Wall Street bridge, Mophe said that he now had 1,002-1/2 miles on his unicycle’s odometer. He said he first got on a one-wheeler when he was eleven years-old, and it took him about six months to learn to ride.
By the time he was done for the day, he had 19 more miles logged. His total for the week was 94 miles.
Mophe said on his Facebook page that The Jingle Bell Run in Cincinnati is his last scheduled event --- ...”for this year!” He says he will to try to “hammer out a book about (his) journey by the end of the year.”
Morphe is really, really passionate about people donating unused gift cards. That is why he set the goal of 1,000 miles as a way to promote re-gifting the cards. He explained how much of the money originally spent on these cards goes to waste, and just how easy it is to donate them to your favorite charity. He said, “Many gift cards are still sitting around from the last Holiday.” He’s a hard interview as he continuously circles around you - and back and forth - and back and forth, on one wheel.
Now... Donate Those Cards
