If you are tempted by cycling around the world then this honest BBC interview with James Bowthorpe recorded the day after he arrived in London having broken the world record may be just the inspiration you need. He rode 18000 miles passing through 20 countries in 176 days.

James Bowthorpe Interview

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It includes some funny cycling lists, great articles and unusual bike pictures.

1. Jonny Waldman has written a great post comparing cycling experiences in Portland and San Francisco. Please take note all town planners.
2. 21 bikes has some really cool cycling pictures of riders and their bikes from around the world and you can easily submit your own crazy cycling images for voting.
3. Good News have a great interview with Japanese round the world cyclist Daisuke Nakanishi who has been on the road for 11 years and visited 121 countries.
4. Open travel have a list of world’s most friendly bike cities. Who do you think was #1?
5. Are you planning to cycle through Africa? Great interview of Amaya Williams who spent 2 years cycling through the continent
6. Are you a cyclist who loves to complain? This funny list of 10 complaints by a Toronto cyclist may be just up your street.
7. Are you thinking of cycling around the world? This list of 10 inspirational cycling quotations may get you on your bike and training hard.
8. Are you looking for some current cycling books to read? This list has some good choices that cover a spectrum from road to endurance and around the world cycling.
9. James Bowthorpe set a world record for cycling around the world this great article on The Adventure Life gives a summary of the trip and his experiences.
10. Lonely Planet names the World’s Top 10 Cycling Routes

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Whether or not she is successful in her quest to break the record and of course I really hope that she is, I believe that she is a true champion and an emerging star of the adventure community.

Choosing to undertake events solo is not to be taken lightly. There is a world of difference between sharing problems with a team and facing each problem, and there will be many, alone on a cold dark ocean. It takes a special kind of character able to withstand the almost continuous pressure of being alone, solving every problem, being constantly tired, making decisions, all the time physically exhausted.

The expedition is in it’s early stages so she is yet to be truly tested in these departments, but reading and watching her video’s you are struck by her bubbly, charming, determined nature and I think she has the character to reach her dream.

I hope that she doesn’t get to hung up on chasing the record. This puts enormous extra pressure and also may well detract from the experience of the journey. It is a bit like clock watching, if every moment we are obsessed with the time and speed and miles covered it is easy to forget that we are on an amazing adventure and the experience of a lifetime.

I have enormous respect for our young sportsmen and the adventures they are undertaking. But it does raise some concerns in me. We have reached a point in our culture where the pursuit of records seams to be all consuming. This seams to be fuelled by the need for sponsorship and media coverage. Whilst there is nothing wrong per say with this approach it can lead to some unfortunate consequences.

It is common to see young prodigies burn out in tennis for example swamped by the weight of pressure and expectation. Rarely is this dangerous. In an adventure expedition this burn out can be dangerous and life threatening. In previous generations explorers served their apprentaships going on increasingly more challenging expeditions then graduating to going solo, then and only then trying to set speed records.

This is not the case anymore and I worry for the young explores in their quest for records. It takes years of experience to build up the necessary skills and knowledge to cope and handle the challenges of these extreme circumstances. In sailing terms physical ability is less important than skill so youth is at a disadvantage to an older participant.

Having said all of this I cannot get away from my sheer joy at her project and REALLY hope she has a fabulous experience. my thoughts are with her to stay safe, sail hard and god willing smash the record.

For more information on Jessica Watson and her attempt to break the around the world sailing record please visit her web site www.jessicawatson.com.au

Credits for the images used in this article about sailing solo around the world belong to Jessica Watson.

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