February 19th, 2010 by admin

It has been a long, challenging, and adventurous journey for cyclist Mark Beaumont, but he has, at last, reached the “End of the World”, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Mark set off from Alaska last spring, 268 days ago in fact, and has ridden his trusty bicycle all the way to the tip of South America. In the process, he rode 13,080 miles and crossed through 12 countires. Oh yeah, and along the way, he managed to summit the 20,320 foot Denali and the 22,841 foot Aconcagua, the tallest mountains in North and South America respectively.

The news of his arrival has just been posted on his blog where Mark says:

I’m ecstatic to be here, it has been my dream and focus for so long - but also a small part of me is sad that the simple but tough life of bike and camera has come to an end, again, at least for now!

I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard of Mark. He’ll enjoy a bit of down time now, work on his BBC documentary of the ride, rest up, and plot his next adventure. Lets not forget, this is a guy who once rode around the world in just 194 days. I doubt he’ll stay home for long!

Congrats on a job well done Mark. It has been a joy to follow along on your journey. You showed a real enthusiasm for travel and the cultures you were experiencing at every step. I’m going to miss your updates, but I look forward to your next adventure.

February 11th, 2010 by admin

I have a couple of interesting travel stories for anyone looking for new and unique adventure travel experiences. I wrote about both of these at Gadling the past few days, but felt they were worth mentioning here as well.

First up, our friends over at Tour d’Afrique have announced a new cycling adventure for early next year. Dubbed “An Indian Adventure“, the new tour will send adventurous, and well conditioned, travelers on a 46 day ride through India, covering more than 2000 miles in the process.

Beginning in Agra in January of 2011, the route will take you through some of the most amazing places in the country. The trip organizers fill in some of the details on the website saying: “We will pass through the colourful desert cities of Rajasthan; Spend a day in the bustling metropolis of Mumbai; Relax on the stunning beaches in Goa; Visit the incredible ruins of Hampi; Cycle througt the undiscovered interior of Karnataka; Pass through the princely city of Mysore; Enjoy a day or two in a wildlife reserve; Wander around the historic British hill station of Ooty; Spin down from the heights of the Western Ghats to feast on the seafood in Cochin; And bike alongside the gorgeous backwaters of Kerela.”

And for those that can’t make the full ride, there are two options available to cover shorter sections that require less time as well. This event is part of the company’s DreamTours program, which gives us a chance to design our own cycling adventures, while their expert team handles all the logistics for us.

The other very cool travel story is a contest from Gap Adventures, which is one of the best adventure travel companies that you’ll find anywhere. Gap specializes in delivering top not travel opportunities, at reasonable prices, in just about every corner of the globe.

Their new contest is called Create Your Own Adventure, and it gives us the opportunity to build our dream trip from the ground up. When you go to the contest webpage you’ll begin by selecting the region you want to travel through, picking the highlights you’d like to see, modes of transportation and accommodations, and so on. Once you’ve designed your perfect getaway, you’ll submit it to the site, where a distinguished group of judges will eventually select their top 20. Those top trips will then be voted on by the public, with the designer of the winning trip being sent on the tour that he or she designed. They’ll also get to take two of their very best friends along as well, and to fill out the initial group, five more winners will be picked randomly. The winning tour will also be added to Gap’s 2011 catalog too.

So, there you have. If you’re in the mood for an amazing cycling tour through one of the most interesting and chaotic countries on the planet, get ready for that Indian Adventure. If you’ve got something else in mind, perhaps you can convince Gap to send you on that trip instead. Sadly, I was unable to select Antarctic when designing my own trip, as I thought a last degree ski expedition to the South Pole would be perfect. Guess I’ll have to keep searching for that one.

February 3rd, 2010 by admin

Yesterday, Polartec announced the recipients of their 2010 Challenge Grants, awarding a total of $20,000 to help fund four adventurers pursue their dreams in the year ahead.

The four winners of this year’s grant include the following:

• Kelly Cordes - Cordes, along with his climbing partner Kyle Dempster, are planning an expedition to the remote Charakusa Valley of Pakistan, where they will attempt to make the first ascent of an unnamed rock spire near K7. The tower has been challenged several times in the past, but remains unconquered for now. The very challenging climb will require a mix of high altitude mountaineering and technical rock climbing skills.

• Kate Harris and Mel Yule - This adventurous pair are setting off on a year long bike expedition along the ancient Silk Road. They’ll depart from Nepal and peddle their way to Turkey, and while they’ll no doubt have an incredible adventure along the way, they’re also riding for a cause. The two riders, one a Rhodes Scholar, the other and environmental scientist, will be studying the impact of natural and societal changes on six unique wilderness areas along their route.

• Greg Hill - A mountaineer and skier, Hill has set quite a challenge for himself in 2010, as he’ll attempt to climb and ski more than 2 million vertical feet over the course of the year. He hopes to find unskied routes in Canada, the U.S. and throughout South America, filming his entire expedition. If anyone can accomplish this task, it’ll no doubt be Hill, who has already set a record for climbing and skiing 50,000 feet in one 24-hour period.

• Jordan Romero - Last, but certainly not least, of the grant recipients is Jordan Romero, the 13-year old climber who will be attempting Everest this spring and Mt. Vinson, in Antarctica, in the fall. If successful, not only will he become the youngest person to ever summit Everest, he’ll also be the youngest to complete the Seven Summits, as he has just these two peaks left to add to his already impressive resume.

So there you have it! The 2010 winners. Quite a diverse and interesting list, with some great adventures planned for the year ahead. This is the 19th year that Polartec has awarded these grants, and it seems they picked some very worthy recipients again this year. Typically, the committee that awards the grants looks for low-cost, low-impact expeditions to help fund, with applications being evaluated for their vision, commitment and credibility. Past winners of these grants have included the likes of Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Steve House, amongst others.

Congrats to this year’s winners!

January 20th, 2010 by admin

Long distance cycler Mark Beaumont completed another milestone in his ride from Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America this weekend when he reached the summit of Aconcagua. The mountain, which is the tallest in South America at 22,841 feet, is his second successful summit since beginning the journey last year. He also topped out on Denali, the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet, last June.

Mark set aside his bike about two weeks ago, when he joined the climbing team in Argentina. At the time, he mentioned how he needed to get his legs use to trekking a mountain again, as they has spent many consecutive weeks on a bike. It seems he found his legs though, as he and the rest of his climbing group, reached the summit on Friday afternoon. While the Scottish cyclist hasn’t posted anything about the climb on his blog yet, there are some photos from summit day that you can check out now.

After a bit of a rest, Mark will now return to his bike and resume his journey southward. If he stays on schedule, he’s expected to finish up the ride in February, and the BBC has been filming the expedition for an upcoming documentary as well. Congrats to Mark on the successful climb of Aconcagua. Enjoy the rest of the ride and stay safe.

January 16th, 2010 by admin

The Tour Down Under, held in Adelaide, Australia, is set to get underway this Sunday, January 17th, with a strong field of riders that include seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and his new Radio Shack Team.

The race will begin with a criterium race through Adelaide on Sunday with riders battling it out for the coveted Ochre Jersey. Then on Tuesday, Stage 1 will begin, as the cyclists head out on the road to begin the race proper. Over the course of the six stages, they’ll cover nearly 500 miles, in what has become a competitive and challenging start to the cycling season.

For Armstrong’s part, he has been looking forward to his return to Adelaide since he put in his first appearance there last year when he began his comeback. He ended up finishing a surprisingly strong fifth in the General Classification, and he hopes to improve on that this year. Lance claims that he is further along at this point than he was last season, and that he is riding stronger and with more confidence. That’s probably bad news for the other riders, although you have to wonder how much longer the 38-year old cyclist can continue to compete at such a high level.

Watch for updates next week, as the race gets rolling along. It should be a good way to gauge Lance’s strength, and how the new Radio Shack team is working together. They say that they are not going out to win the team competition, but instead, grab stage victories. Should be fun!

January 6th, 2010 by admin

It has been some time since we checked in on Mark Beaumont, the Scottish cyclist who is in the process of riding his bike from Alaska to the tip of South America. Dubbed the Cycling The Americas expedition, the entire journey has been well chronicled on the BBC website through blog postings and Twitter updates.

Mark had several goals he wanted to accomplish throughout his journey, including summitting the highest mountains in both North and South America. He started the expedition by successfully climbing the 20,320 foot Denali back in June, and now he has turned his sights on Aconcagua, which at 22,841 feet, is the tallest mountain outside of the Himalaya, in the world.

According to the expedition website, on December 30th, Mark has gone from cycling mode to climbing mode, after spending more than 180 days on his bike. His Twitter feed has more up-to-date information, with the news that he has joined his climbing team, and is now en route to base camp on Aconcagua. Over the next couple of weeks, we should be able to follow along as he makes his bid on another one of the Seven Summits.

After he finishes up on the mountain, Mark will return to the bike and finish the last leg of his journey. He hopes to reach Tierra del Fuego, at the tip of South America, sometime in February, which will close out his latest adventure.

December 31st, 2009 by admin

With the end of 2009 now just a couple of days away, I’m sure we’ll see a few more of these “Best of the Year” and “Best of the Decade” lists. The Outside Blog gets things started today with their selection of the Top 10 Adventure Stories of the Decade.

The list spans a lot of different and unique stories ranging from the likes of Aron Ralston’s dramatic and controversial survival tale to Lance Armstrong making Yellow a cool color. You may recall that back in 2003, Ralston rose to fame after being trapped in the wilderness under a boulder for several days, and then cutting his own arm off to escape, and while Lance spent many days in the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France, his iconic “Live Strong” bracelets may have been the real reason the color became so popular.

Other stories that make their list include Dean Potter’s literal rise to top rock climber to BASE jumper, the continued debate in mountaineering circles about a number of issues surrounding Everest, and Kelly Slater’s 41 ASP victories in surfing. The list is far reaching and covers a multitude of areas, most of which were front and center in the pages of Outside over the past ten years.

So, what do you think of their choices? A number of those wouldn’t make my list, but they are interesting selections none the less, and very fitting with the magazine’s audience.

November 13th, 2009 by admin

Remember James Bowthrope? He was the British cyclist who completed an around the world ride in just 174 days back in September, setting a new world’s record in the process and besting the old mark by 20 days. He’s been home for nearly two months now, and The Adventure Life had the chance to check in with him, and see how he’s doing.

In the interview, Bowthrope talks about using his epic ride as a fund raiser for Parkinson’s research, how he got motivated to go after the record, and much more, such as his best day on the bike (reaching Sydney, Australia), as well as his scariest day (being chased by thugs in Iran). He touches on the gear that he carried and the bike he rode as well.

All in all, a very interesting, informative article, with lots of insights on a long distance ride. it’ll give you a new appreciation on these kinds of adventures. Definitely an amazing experience, and considering he had to average 103 miles per day over the course of his journey, it just makes the whole thing more impressive.

By the way, The Adventure Life has always been a great resource for these kinds of stories, and it’s on my daily rounds. But it just got better now that the site has been optimized for use on the iPhone too. A great site that I can now read even better on the go.

November 5th, 2009 by admin

With a relatively slow day on the adventure front, I wanted to post a few updates on three of my favorite expeditions that I’ve been following in recent months.

First up, the Around The Americas Expedition continues, with the news that the Ocean Watch has now reached Puerto Rico. You may recall that this is the crew that attempting the first ever circumnavigation of the North and South American continents, and after successfully navigating the Northwest Passage earlier this summer, they have been enjoying a mostly leisurely cruise down the East Coast of the United States. The warm sun of the Caribbean is no doubt a welcome respite from the cold they endure while sailing above Alaska and Canada, but they have a long way to go yet before they reach the safety of home in Seattle, and the perilous waters of the Beagle Channel and the treacherous navigation of Cape Horn still lie ahead.

Moving on to a completely different kind of long distance expedition, it’s good to see Mark Beaumont is making good progress on his Cycling The Americas journey. The British cyclist is riding his bike from Anchorage, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, stopping off long enough to climb both Denali and Aconcagua, the tallest mountain on North and South America respectively. Mark reached a milestone of sorts within the past few days as well, having ridden all the way to Panama, he now prepares to leave North America behind, and cross the Canal into South America, where he’ll continue is epic ride. He expects to complete his journey sometime in the spring of next year.

Finally, Ed Stafford and his partner Cho, have now spent 580 days Walking the Amazon. The two have suffered mightily in their expedition in recent days, as they struggle with the challenges of continuing to make progress, lowered energy levels, and failing equipment. But they do continue to move ahead, and have now left Peru behind and are trekking through Brazil, as they strive to become the first men to walk the length of the Amazon River. If everything goes according to plan, they’ll finish off their expedition next spring as well, although they still have a long way to go and lots of hardships to overcome.

These are just a taste of the expeditions that like to follow. Each of them exhibits a spirit of adventure and exploration that is inspiring to say the least. I’m glad to see that they are each continuing to make progress with their goals in site, even if they are still a ways off in the distance.

November 1st, 2009 by admin

This was the subject of my story today over at Gadling as well, but thought I’d mention it here too. I’ve written about the Tour d’Afrique before, discussing how great of a cycling adventure I think it would be, riding from Cairo to Cape Town, and crossing through much of Africa in the process.

Now, the organizers of that cool event are preparing for another long distance ride, this time going from Istanbul, Turkey to Xi’an China, over a 6600+ mile course that will also cross through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan as well. That may sound like a bit of a random ride, but it actually a very historic path, as participants will be covering the length of the Silk Road, an ancient and vital trade route that once connected East and West.

The event will get underway on May 22nd of next year, and will take roughly 16 weeks to complete. Those weeks are broken up with 92 days of riding and 22 rest days, with one travel day across the Caspian Sea thrown in for good measure. The trip will be highlighted by a ride up the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, with cyclists climbing above 15,000 feet, only to later plummet to depths below sea level while camping in the western desert regions of China. The road will vary from well paved to cart paths, with just about everything in between, and the riders will average about 70 miles per day across the length of the ride.

Unfortunately, not all of us have 16 weeks to dedicate to such a ride, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be left out in the cold, as the road is broken down into seven separate legs that can be ridden singularly or in an combination should you decide to not go for the full on experience. The cost of the Silk Route ride is currently set at €8500, but there is currently a promotion in place that will cut €400 from the price if you book the trip before November 15th. The prices for the individual legs can be found at the bottom of this page as well.

This looks like an amazing experience, with an incredible mix of physical challenge, high adventure, history, and culture. I can’t think of a better way to explore this unique part of the world than from the back of a bike, which will let you follow in the footsteps of some of history’s most mesmerizing characters, like Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, and Genghis Khan. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go start training!