Man goes for one-wheel Guinness world record
He’s training for a record 14-mile wheelie that would starts around the bell tower at Phillips Academy on Route 28 at Salem Street in Andover and ends at Buchika’s bike and ski shop on Route 28 in Salem, N.H. Lockhart said the current world record for a wheelie is 8.13 miles. That record was set in a stadium, he said.
But Lockhart said he wanted more of a challenge. A native of the small island, Dominica, he has lived in town about a year. The best-known local road to him is busy Route 28.
“I know it’s busy, but I love it,” said Lockhart, who is 30, but admits he’s still a kid in a lot of ways.
Main Street drivers wave and beep while people pushing strollers step back to let him through as he trains. He’s become well know, flashing a dazzling white smile and often tucking his bees-waxed dreadlocks into a hip cadet cap. Reggae music plays on his i-Pod as he steadily wheels through town. His colorful belt says “freedom” and blows freely in the wind as he pedals.
He said he knows Route 28 quite well as he’s been training for months along the 14-mile stretch through four communities two or three times a day.
He stays on Route 28 through Lawrence, Methuen and Salem, N.H. where he finally puts both bike wheels on the ground at Buchika’s, his sponsor for the Guinness competition.
“On that really hot day, I did it four times. That weather reminded me of home,” he said with his huge smile.
He’s not worried or even scared of local drivers saying he swerves quite nicely to avoid collisions. As for traffic lights, especially in the shopping mecca of Salem, N.H., he has every single traffic light timed and knows when to slow down or speed up for a green light.
“Before you see me, I see you first. I am so focused, in the zone. And I know God will take care of me,” said the spiritual Lockhart, who prays every day and frequently thanks God for his blessings while training.
So far, Lockhart has been hit by a car twice, but not seriously injured. In fact, he got back on his bike.
He’s in tune with how wind effects the balance of his lean, 150-pound body and he never exceeds 40 mph while popping wheelies. Riding too fast on one wheel could make him fall.
“It’s living life on the edge and I love that,” said Lockhart, who said he drove his mom crazy because he has always loved speed, even as a kid. He dreams of racing as part of NASCAR.
“I love cars…maybe someday I will have a car-detailing business,” said Lockhart, who also said he is currently “retired” and doing something he loves.
“That’s what you do in America…I just don’t know why you wait so long,” he said with a hearty laugh referring to the typical retirement age.
Growing up in Dominica, he was surrounded by bikes, not cars. He never wore a bike helmet. No one did. He is reluctant to wear a helmet now because he never has.
“But, it’s different here and I tell all the kids to wear one,” he said.
He knows from his own experiences that bike helmets are important. A terrible bike accident at 17 landed him in a hospital for a week. His jaw was wired shut and his forehead gash required three stitches. He’ll never know if a helmet would have made a difference.
His mom master-minded his move to Antigua, another island, to live with her sister. He got a tourism-related job on a catamaran and enjoyed helping tourists find the best scuba-diving spots.
While working on the tourist boat, he met an American girl, he said, and he moved to the states. The couple married and settled in Plaistow, N.H.
The first thing he did was buy his 2004 21-speed Gary Fischer bike, which he is still riding and using for the wheelie-popping effort. He uses every gear when he trains.
His marriage ended in divorce and Lockhart moved in with a friend on Hidden Road last year.
Of course, he brought his bike and rode it frequently around his new neighborhood. He’s a serious cyclist averaging 375 miles a week on his well-worn bike. He does have a car, currently in a Lawrence body shop, he said.
“My first day in Andover, I was driving my car and the police stopped me. They said my car was too loud,” he said. “So I knew I had to fix it.”
He’s been riding his bike ever since and his wheelie-making skills caught the eyes of some Phillips Academy students who encouraged him to keep the wheelie going.
“Next thing I knew, I was going seven miles. I started thinking, ‘I can do this,'” he said. “I love those kids…They would say, ‘Keep going, keep going.'”
Guinness World Record representatives are scheduled to visit on Sunday, Sept. 12 and hopefully award the grand prize, he said.
“I want to have a big party at the end, at Buchika’s,” he said. “I want to say thanks to the fans. People around here are so nice.”
It’s sure to be a big party as he has got over 1,300 fans on Facebook alone. Someone started a site called, erroneously, “The Jamaican guy who does wheelies around Andover.”
“Very cool, man, very cool,” Lockhart said with a smile.
