The Man Who Cycled the Americas

Stone Glider

Oh. I still don't understand. Having our hero standing on the edge of a crumbling precipice with a forest fire behind him, whist being attacked by eagles, only attracts my attention for a limited time. Why not have a programme about a brave and determined man cycling a very long way over difficult terrain?

fnegroni

I agree with most comments so far.

It was still great to see a humble guy such as Mark battling the elements and himself on the journey.

I have seen more clips of himself on the blog and the additional 'unseen' footage on the BBC site and that was, somehow, more interesting to me. Like the way he chose where to put camp and the process of unpacking/packing.

I really am a bike geek, and I guess any program for TV nowadays is not for geeks anymore.

Maybe they could do a special edition, like, no editing and all of the raw footage. Say 2,000 hours on DVD... ;-)

P.S.
It seems to me strange that some maybe higher profile personalities get better coverage of a relatively minor adventure in comparison: On Thin Ice http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00llqdz

Those three guys showed, IMHO, less determination, less experience, fewer values and a demented attitude to solitude and adventure than Mark did, but got the 5 star treatment from the BBC.

Maybe Mark is happy about that though: I like him more because of that perhaps...

Oh, dear, I am going all soft here... better MTFU before tomorrow's commute with man flu!

P.P.S.

Just now listening to the BBC Radio Scotland programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rl1sn

In some ways, better than the TV programme. Might even listen to it on my way into work as a motivational speech!

rolf_f

Might have been better for the programme just to focus on a relatively small part of the journey. Trouble is, the programme completely failed to give any feel for the sheer scale of the distances involved. Even in a car you can be driving for over an hour without seeing any sign of habitation in British Columbia and Alaska. In the programme it. The way it was filmed he might as well have flown from location to location. It actually underplayed what he has done - watching the programme you'd be forgiven for thinking a quick ride from Alaska to Washington State would be a nice thing to do on a warm Summers Sunday afternoon!

fnegroni

I think the problem was: he didn't have a crew following him.

All TV personalities who have embarked on some sort of adventure before have had a team following them.

He didn't.

All the footage you see, is his own. I can only think it is very difficult to work with material that is good for geeks like me, and watchable online, but doesn't quite make it for prime time TV.

Given the rise in cycling challenges recently (Sport Relief had *two*), I was surprised it was allocated a non-prime slot: 10.30pm

If I were to make a suggestion to Mark, is to ensure next time, he gets someone to follow him. Obviously the 'solo' aspect will somehow be less relevant, but then he will be able to occupy the prime time spot.

nicklouse

interesting comments.

Don't forget this is only 3 one hour shows.

not a 10 week series.

rolf_f

nicklouse wrote:

interesting comments.

Don't forget this is only 3 one hour shows.

not a 10 week series.

I don't think anyone could really forget that

(at the rate it is being done, 10 weeks would have been enough for him to build a bike from scratch and cycle it around the world twice.....)

kencandig

Just watched episode 1 & thought mark captured the magic of the road. Sure it's a tv program and bill p's script is written for yer granny to put off her next cup of tea but don't take it away from the guy. Did something similar 10 years ago and this is dead on. It's not fireworks all the time it's solitude and all about the people you meet and the cock ups,where your next meal/food/water/campspot/ companionship is coming from. You want to moan about guff? Go watch long way round. Pure guff.
This is quality.

bill_gates

roundthebend wrote:

We got a considerable amount of time dedicated to climbing Mt Mckinley which, as much as I love my mountains, wasn't why I was watching the programme. There wasn't enough time dedicated to showing the intriguing information like:

- how he packs his kit onto the bike
- what kit he carries
- how he knows where he's going
- how the filming is done
- how the journey was planned - sponsorship?
- what costs are involved (he stops to buy food and water, but who pays)
- what aches/pains/illness does he have to endure
- what his plans are should the bike get damaged beyond roadside repair


Aside from that, let's see more of the spectacular scenery and less of the "interesting" people. I would have loved the guitar playing and the cowboy bit but not in a programme about cycling a long distance.

I'd like to know all those questions also and partly why I've booked tickets to go and see him at one of his Scottish events. It would be good if there is some Q&A opportunities.

stuaff

Bill Gates wrote:

I'd like to know all those questions also and partly why I've booked tickets to go and see him at one of his Scottish events. It would be good if there is some Q&A opportunities.

There are. Mark freely answers questions during the interval and afterward.

bill_gates

Ideal, I'll buy a book also.

jonginge

*bump*

nkt

I'm going to the Stirling one on April 30th. Looking forward to it.

tailwindhome

Got bored of this programme within the 1st 5 mins.

Did really enjoy the 'Flying Scotsman' film on just after.

OldSkoolKona

Going to see him in Epsom in May - http://www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk/pages/S ... s%2009.htm

jjojjas

I'm going to see him in May.
I'm a little surprised that we have something on the TV that is "real life"...and relating to cycling . Yet so many seem to want to criticise it :?:

fnegroni

WheezyMcChubby wrote:

Did really enjoy the 'Flying Scotsman' film on just after.

That was good! :-)

I still liked the Americas programme though.

SimonLyons

Bottom bracket broke on his bike - Am I mistaken or was a life expectancy of 1800 miles for the part quoted.

What sort of rubbish are we buying?

Underscore

SimonLyons wrote:

Bottom bracket broke on his bike - Am I mistaken or was a life expectancy of 1800 miles for the part quoted.

What sort of rubbish are we buying?

Having gone external (Deore) on my commuter about 2000 miles ago, I was worried that I am running on borrowed time!

Having said that, I was surprised that his head set went totally in <8000 miles. My commuter is still on the original cheapy one after >5000 miles and only the occasional tighten. I would have thought that Koga would have fitted some stainless/ceramic engineering marvel which would last several times round the world...

_

jonginge

SimonLyons wrote:

Bottom bracket broke on his bike - Am I mistaken or was a life expectancy of 1800 miles for the part quoted.

What sort of rubbish are we buying?

Must be bollox. Either that or the chaps at the top of the SC Stats leaderboard would be changing their BBs every couple of months...

cee

did it not strike you that it might have been a good idea to carry spare BB cups and headset bearings for a circumnavigation of the americas?

I mean....we go to fort william with the mountain bikes for a week and take more spares than he seems to carry!

wgwarburton

nkt wrote:

I'm going to the Stirling one on April 30th. Looking forward to it.

Stirling? That's near me... You didn't get off the 1712 Glasgow train last night (31/3), di you? Grey hardshell helmet?

Cheers,
W.

nkt

WGWarburton wrote:

nkt wrote:

I'm going to the Stirling one on April 30th. Looking forward to it.

Stirling? That's near me... You didn't get off the 1712 Glasgow train last night (31/3), di you? Grey hardshell helmet?

Cheers,
W.

Sorry, wasn't me. I stay in Falkirk :-)

jonginge

*bumpity bump*

Oh, and Heston's back on...

cjcp

cee wrote:

did it not strike you that it might have been a good idea to carry spare BB cups and headset bearings for a circumnavigation of the americas?

I mean....we go to fort william with the mountain bikes for a week and take more spares than he seems to carry!

+1. I thought it was a bit naff that the headset bearings went. Just wondered if dust from the lorries in the back @rse of nowhere caused them to wear more quickly.

fnegroni

Watched the last episode last night and I thought it was the best of the three by a mile, for three reasons:

- more cycling footage
- more about the challenge itself (camping, food, fatigue, roads, traffic, weather)
- less about the local people: you've got to love the desert!

londonbairn

nkt wrote:

WGWarburton wrote:

nkt wrote:

I'm going to the Stirling one on April 30th. Looking forward to it.

Stirling? That's near me... You didn't get off the 1712 Glasgow train last night (31/3), di you? Grey hardshell helmet?

Cheers,
W.

Sorry, wasn't me. I stay in Falkirk :-)

I'm originally from Falkirk 8)

What's cycling like these days there? Are there many commuters?

Actually coming up end of May

mudcovered

cjcp wrote:

+1. I thought it was a bit naff that the headset bearings went. Just wondered if dust from the lorries in the back @rse of nowhere caused them to wear more quickly.

Not surprising really. My MTB one went after about 6000miles. It still worked okayish but required a little extra nudge to get it off the straight line position. Its the repeated vibration that does them in.

Mike

lastant

Just bought tickets to go and see him at Epsom Playhouse on May 6th. Bit odd he's not doing a couple of London shows, but this is the closest one to it with it being only a half hour trip out of Waterloo.

Anyone else planning on going along?

cjcp

Ooo, that's just down the road. Might do. Found last night's programme much better although would have preferred a bit more detail between Aconcagua (serious Chapeau for that one!) and the finish. General Election day, too, so might have to vote in the morning.

Do you think his cycling top was quarantined whn he returned to the UK?

rjsterry

cjcp wrote:

Ooo, that's just down the road. Might do. Found last night's programme much better although would have preferred a bit more detail between Aconcagua (serious Chapeau for that one!) and the finish. General Election day, too, so might have to vote in the morning.

Do you think his cycling top was quarantined whn he returned to the UK?

Probably needed its own passport.