18000 around the world record

Aroundtheworld

I think this is the right section

Basically i want to try and beat the around the world record set by mark beaumont and due to be attpemted later this week by james bowthorpe.

Ive watned to do something like this for a long time and even more so since mark beaumont done it. I want to do it next year, so around 12/18 months away. Ive got alot of work , planning , sponsorship to sort out. everything really. Ive discussed it with my famil etc and they are fully behind me every step of the way.

Im reasonably new to cycling but always had the passion and love to push myself as far as i can with anything. My determination to do this will out weigh anything i lack , i WILL do it.

Im sure other people have popped along here and said the same as me or made claims that they will do it. But the fact is i will , i know whats ahead of me and i know how tough it will be , i know what i have to do.

Any advice anyone can give , like the starting blocks etc etc. PLEASE can no one approach me with pointless sarcasm saying that i wont do it or anything. Im not here for that , im here for abit of advice and help.

I need to pick a charity or several charities aswell to do this for , im not in to chrarities like oxfam. I prefer things such as naomis house etc etc...the smaller ones where the money will make an impact.

amaferanga

I know you didn't want 'pointless sarcasm', but this has got to be one of the most pointless cycling world records. Mark beaumonts mean daily distances are impressive, but not extraordinary so sure you quite possibly could break the record. But why? Why not just cycle round the world and enjoy it without having to constantly be thinking about how quickly you're covering the ground and (more importantly) missing out all the really interesting roads and places because you have to stick to good roads to keep your daily distances up.

Can't you just do it because you want the experience without having to try to break a silly record or raise money for charity?

Aroundtheworld

amaferanga wrote:

I know you didn't want 'pointless sarcasm', but this has got to be one of the most pointless cycling world records. Mark beaumonts mean daily distances are impressive, but not extraordinary so sure you quite possibly could break the record. But why? Why not just cycle round the world and enjoy it without having to constantly be thinking about how quickly you're covering the ground and (more importantly) missing out all the really interesting roads and places because you have to stick to good roads to keep your daily distances up.

Can't you just do it because you want the experience without having to try to break a silly record or raise money for charity?

To challenge myself , thats the main reason...The challenge of it and the experience i will gain from doing it! I have other things i want to do aswell , this is a first of many i hope!

I do understand what you mean though and i respect your honesty and opinion! Its just something i want to and have to do.

Aroundtheworld

amaferanga wrote:

I know you didn't want 'pointless sarcasm'?

I wouldnt class that as sarcasm , just a point of view

I have joined other cycling forums in the past and you do get some right idiots who just think they are clever and like to try and wind people up or put them down. This is what i meant by sarcasm.

pneumatic

I recently heard Mark Beaumont speaking about his trip. His view was that the physical side of it is much less of a challenge than the psychological aspect. My advice to you would therefore be to get some support to get your head in the right place to do this.

Also, you need to decide whether to risk the Afgan, Iran, Pakistan borderlands. He had to take a police escort through there and the local police were not very impressed with him for taking the risk (and putting them at risk).

some of that travel diplomacy has to be done as you go. You'll lose time if you have to negotiate it yourself. Will you have a good support team behind you?

GyatsoLa

I'd suggest you have a look through the 'On Your Bike' and Central Asian branches of the Lonely Planet website forum Thorntree. You'll find lots of information there about visa and border crossing issues that would help you plot a route - obviously planning would have to be flexible, as the rules change all the time. You'll also find quite a lot of journals on www.crazyguyonabike.com that will give you an idea of road conditions from a cyclists point of view in various parts of the world. there is also some useful information in that website about using a GPS to help you on tour - I'd imagine that would be a great help if trying to break a record (many a cycle tourist has wasted a few days when they took the wrong turn).

A book you might want to get is Stephen Lord's 'Trailblazer Guide to Adventure Cycle Touring' - it has all sorts of hints on route planning and surviving on the road. You might also want to check out this guys website to give you some ideas about travelling ultralight:

http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/weight.htm

As for charities, I'd advice picking one you like and talk to them at an early stage about what you want to do. I discussed this once in detail with a friend who was director with a small development charity - she said the money raised by things like this was pretty small, and usually not worth the effort. What was worth it was the associated publicity and the boost it would give to related fundraising (i.e. its easier to persuade people to go rattle a tin on a saturday morning if you can point out that someone is cycling around the world at speed for the same cause).

DomT

Good luck with the record attempt, 120miles a day for 150 days sounds extreme to me, but then I'm not super-human!

dpiper

I think I know exactly where you are coming from as I've been doing something similar myself. I simply cant get a year off so I'm doing it in stages using Mark Beaumont's record to set my pace. Yes, I know I'm not going to break the record, and its a bit like saying you can run a 2 hour marathon when you can sprint a 5 minute mile, but I'm enjoying the physical challenge as well as seeing the world.

Anyway, I've a website that might contain a few ideas, routes, tips on what to carry etc.

www.tra-velo-gue.co.uk

feel fre to contact me if you think I can help

synchronicity

Great to see such determined folk! :shock:


Do you have a website or something set up to inform people about your goals / intentions? I think a blog format would be ideal... that way you can easily update it, even en route!

It would certainly also help with the sponsorship. For example, I'm currently looking to sponsor individual athletes and/or cycling teams for my ceramic gear housing, but without a plan of action you aren't a likely candidate to receive anything...

Anonymous

Seeing threads like this really make me want to get on my bike and just go ride , I'm going to have a go at doing 50 miles most days, maybe more, all hilly, as I find on the flat is just boring unless you are thrashing it along, I find going on hilly routes I find it easier to stop p155ing about with speed and just take it steady up the hills.

dpiper

Mark Beaumont has inspired many, but many will fail. Nonetheless its an awesome acheivement just to finish.

This guy is way behind schedule already:

http://www.whereintheworldisjames.com/

Buitenlander

dpiper-was just curious if you had access to a detailed schedule for James since you make such a sweeping statement that he's way behind schedule already ?

He's actually right on schedule just for the record and yes I do have access to his detailed schedule as I helped him plan it.

sbaywatch

If he is planning on 100 miles a day he looks bang on schedule.

Keep it up, top performance

elduderino

I agree, top effort. But wasn't he aiming for 120 miles a day, which would indeed put him behind schedule. He's still on for the record though either way. Keep it up.

scottgeniusltd2005

why is he not updating his blog, last one on the 8th

Buitenlander

Access to the internet on the road isn't so easy and James won't have a lot of time to go searching due to the tight schedule he is keeping.

He is though posting to his twitter account which you can see here:http://twitter.com/GlobeCycle

You can track his progress here:http://www.whereintheworldisjames.com/

Finally there should be regular updates appearing in the Independent newspaper in the UK. Two articles have already been published: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 56047.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 56047.html

I hope this info helps and apologies for any spelling mistakes but English isn't my First language, I'm Dutch !!!

Buitenlander

PS. I'm sure you Brits will keep a firm hand on the record for the near future, just until a crazy Dutchman tries to break it off course :-)

Aroundtheworld

Thanks for the advice and pointers

I am now ready get get the ball rolling and start this lots of planning & training ahead.....planning being the main one :-)

Aroundtheworld

dpiper wrote:

I think I know exactly where you are coming from as I've been doing something similar myself. I simply cant get a year off so I'm doing it in stages using Mark Beaumont's record to set my pace. Yes, I know I'm not going to break the record, and its a bit like saying you can run a 2 hour marathon when you can sprint a 5 minute mile, but I'm enjoying the physical challenge as well as seeing the world.

Anyway, I've a website that might contain a few ideas, routes, tips on what to carry etc.

www.tra-velo-gue.co.uk

feel fre to contact me if you think I can help

I have just had a quick look at your site , i am sure i will take any help/advice offered

Aroundtheworld

synchronicity wrote:

Great to see such determined folk! :shock:


Do you have a website or something set up to inform people about your goals / intentions? I think a blog format would be ideal... that way you can easily update it, even en route!

It would certainly also help with the sponsorship. For example, I'm currently looking to sponsor individual athletes and/or cycling teams for my ceramic gear housing, but without a plan of action you aren't a likely candidate to receive anything...

Webiste will be created very soon then followed by a full plan of action

Aroundtheworld

pneumatic wrote:

I recently heard Mark Beaumont speaking about his trip. His view was that the physical side of it is much less of a challenge than the psychological aspect. My advice to you would therefore be to get some support to get your head in the right place to do this.

Also, you need to decide whether to risk the Afgan, Iran, Pakistan borderlands. He had to take a police escort through there and the local police were not very impressed with him for taking the risk (and putting them at risk).

some of that travel diplomacy has to be done as you go. You'll lose time if you have to negotiate it yourself. Will you have a good support team behind you?

Yes the mental side is more demanding than the physical , i feel i am prepared for that.

I am aiming to actually miss out iran & pakistan and use a different route of make up the miles in other countries that i will already be passing through , such as canada & USA.

The support team will be very important to me and i belive i have got some in place but more will be needed , people with more insight & experties in what i am doing.

I know what i ahve to do and how to get there , but i am still at the very begining. I have my family behind me.

I have alot of reasons for doing this , a good few of them personal.

pimptovimto

Buitenlander wrote:

dpiper-was just curious if you had access to a detailed schedule for James since you make such a sweeping statement that he's way behind schedule already ?

He's actually right on schedule just for the record and yes I do have access to his detailed schedule as I helped him plan it.

Hi you say he is right on schedule but there is no blog update for a while now and he appears to be a little behind or is it a case that the next 9000+ miles are faster than what he has done so far?

PV

Aroundtheworld

He is definetly well behind his 120 mile a day target , but not too far off the 100 mile a day. He is still well within reach of beating the current record.

Aroundtheworld

Website domain has been purchased , i have built websites before so it should be easy enough to do. & my partner is brilliant with HTML coding. Blog , twitter will also be set up and when a route/plan is finalised i will set up things like facebook , justgiving aswell.

I have set a date for next august leaving from london or possibly somewhere else in england.

I have chosen a charity but am thihking of a second charity aswell , today i will also contact some members of the local cycle club & after the weekend approach my local health club as they like charity events/challenges by it's members.

A huge wall map will be here tomorrow <<<< That sounds cheesy i know!

waltho bum gravy

obviously i don't know anywhere near as much as yourself in terms of the specifics of the world record, but i can't help thinking there's a good reason why mark beaumont started his attempt in france rather than in england.

another thing i have taken from beaumont's book is that this was not the first long distance tour he'd undertaken. in terms of training there are a few things you can do to steel yourself. psychologically though i think it would be of great importance to know you can cycle for days at a time for long distances.

personally i think you would be well advised in your planning and website making to include a ride of at least 2-3 weeks over all kinds of terrain. it'll help you in so many ways to think through what you need to do for a longer trip and provide you with some experience for when the enthusiasm wanes and there's still a lot of road ahead of you.

good luck.

amaferanga

waltho bum gravy wrote:

personally i think you would be well advised in your planning and website making to include a ride of at least 2-3 weeks over all kinds of terrain. it'll help you in so many ways to think through what you need to do for a longer trip and provide you with some experience for when the enthusiasm wanes and there's still a lot of road ahead of you.
good luck.

I'd say at least one trip of 2-3 MONTHS, not weeks would be wise before trying to cycle 'round the world'.

waltho bum gravy

i'd agree with you.

in all the posts on this subject there's a lot of talk about psychological preparation and building websites and seemingly not much consideration to whether the bloke can get himself up on a rainy sunday morning after a long day in the saddle.

i'm sure he's factored it in but sooner or later, like you say, a big trip is required. i was saying that a trip of 2-3 weeks would be a good start.

like i said, i'm sure he can do it. it would be good psychologically to know he can do it. in my opinion.

Aroundtheworld

waltho bum gravy wrote:

i'd agree with you.

in all the posts on this subject there's a lot of talk about psychological preparation and building websites and seemingly not much consideration to whether the bloke can get himself up on a rainy sunday morning after a long day in the saddle.

i'm sure he's factored it in but sooner or later, like you say, a big trip is required. i was saying that a trip of 2-3 weeks would be a good start.

like i said, i'm sure he can do it. it would be good psychologically to know he can do it. in my opinion.

Hi

Yes some trips are in the works....Morocco is a possibility in november....heat & mountains , but either way some PROPER trips will be done before next august.

I know what i can do , what i am capable of....I know my limits and i am intelligent enough to know when something is beyond me.

My training will be intense and 6 days a week and i am able to commit myself full time to it now.

Every aspect of what i am going to do has been considered and occupys my thoughts each and everyday , you cant judge what i am thnking just by the snippets i write on here. :-)

pimptovimto

Aroundtheworld just go for it, forget any of the negativity, cycling around the world is hard thats why few people have done it, but you know that! So just concentrate on your goal then break down what needs to be done at the end then the middle and then the start in order for you to achieve your goal of breaking the record. Plan it backward as I suggest so you know what is coming next when you are preparing, this way you wont make a plan then have to change it because the next peice of the jigsaw does not fit.

You will need money though unless you can afford to fund it yourself, Mark's budget was 25,000GBP so start speaking to people and try and raise some cash.

If you havent already, read Mark's book only a fool would not learn from those who have gone before him.

Maybe try and get hold of Mark himself, bit tough since he is in Alaska at the moment, but I think he is back in Feb next year.

Best of luck

PV

Aroundtheworld

Thanks

Aroundtheworld

I am going to do....lands end to john o groates at the end of august/ begining of september. 100 miles a day and camping in a tent. will carry equipment with me on the bike.

Website will be ready soon