"People were a lot more open to us because we were on unicycles," says Cotter. "I think when they saw a group of crazy unicyclists, they realized that we weren't the typical tourists. Everyone wanted to talk to us and ask us questions."

Cotter, along with fellow rider, Christian Hoverath, of Germany, organized the tour, which began on July 24 and ended on Aug. 16. "It's a good way to see Europe," says Cotter. "You can go along at a slower pace and go through villages that you wouldn't normally see. The big cities are always there and you can always visit them, but the smaller towns are harder to get to."

The followed the path of several rivers and the Mediterranean coastline in an effort to avoid steep terrain. "We liked the idea of ending up at the beach," says Cotter. "And we wanted to avoid as many days of mountains as we could, but sometimes that couldn't be helped."

And maybe that's for the best. Cotter's favorite day of the tour was cycling through the Pyrenees. "We started out that day in some small fishing villages and then we climbed more than 600 feet. There were some really great views," says Cotter. "We were back down at the beach by the end of the day. It was grueling but fun. Spending the next two days at the beach didn't hurt either."

Cotter has been unicycling since he was 16 years old. He has captured 19 national titles and three world titles in the sport. "It's a small community, but Unicycling has taken me around the world," says Cotter."It gives me a reason to go new places, and I now have friends all over the world."