Around The World By Bike – Another Attempt
Mark Beumant did it in 194 days, while being chased by a BBC TV crew, but before we could all rest our hands from appluading his super-human feat, James Bowthorpe is now planning to take his place in the record books by circumnavigating our globe on his bicycle in a energy sapping 150 days. Leaving this weekend, James plans to ride a brave 120 miles a day!
This is huge undertaking. On a lightweight bike with a few tools under your saddle this is tough work. On a loaded touring bike weighing in at about 40 kilos it is going to be impossibly hard graft. There will be no lazy afternoons lounging in the shade of a taco stands or refreshing mornings floating in hidden lakes, and there will be little time to stop and chatter with locals, which I believe is the most rewarding and beneficial element of any travel.
But record breaking has always been in the British psyche, and we have a long and heroic back log of dedicated record breakers in our history. But I cant help feel a little sad for James. Although I appreciate and applaud the endeavor, determination and fund raising potential of such a trip. It will hurt, it will be lonely and James will be mentally and physically exhausted. These are all part and parcel of any long cycle tour but I fear by record breaking James might miss out on the rewards of meeting people and having a look at the world that exists between A and B that make all the suffering worth while.
For me the joy of travel on a bicycle is the gentle pace of propulsion, and I fear it is man's hunger for speed and records in moving from A to B in faster and faster speeds that has got us into the polluted traffic-clogged mess we are in today.
However enough of my monday blues. I wish Peter the very best in his attempt and offer him some 'stout' advice from the company that publish the book he hopes to appear in.
Good things come to those who wait.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 09:36 and is filed under Cycle Touring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
