Cycling Around The World

[tin-tin]

So I haven't came here much recently I've been real busy trying to finish my first year of university.
But im free now.
I thought I would take this oppertunity to talk about my new "goal".
Basically.
I finish university in the summer of 2010, so my plan, is to start training now, and then when I finish university, to cycle around the world.
I'm not attempting to break any world records or do anything special, except promote the word vegan, and hopefully make the whole "vegan thing" more acceptable, if it makes even 1 person think differently then its worth a cycle right?
I have no experience at doing this type of thing, not do I have any sponsorship or even a great bike.
Although talking of bikes, as im not attempting any records i dont spose it matters if I have a road bike or a mountain bike does it?
Surely a mountain bike would be more suitable in certain areas of the world where roads can get a bit sketchy?
But thats the type of thing i'm going to need help with knowing about.
I just want to do my bit for promoting vegan ethics, and ive been thinking about going around the world for awhile now, so im finally putting my mind to it, starting some training and planning what im gonna do, as well as get talking to some influencial people hopefully.

Anyway I think thats about all, I heard it's also probably best to have a partner? Going alone can be dodgy for obvious reasons, and going in a pair is always best, or as some people have done i think they go alone but meet a mate in a car at checkpoints or something, any views idea or help from anybody with experience of this kind of thing would be MUCH appreciated, in the end I AM doing this no matter what, so the more information i can gather in the next two years will make it so much more workable for me, and hopefully good for veganism if it all works out?
im just aiming for the kind of "Well if you can cycle around the world, then it can't be that bad can it?" kind of reaction.

and yeah im pretty certain this has been done a million times before, although I couldnt find a vegan but im positive somebody vegan must have done this before, but these days people are getting more and more open minded so it could be just the right time to do such a thing.

Thanks in advance for anybody who cares to help . . . or join me? maybe we could do an entire forum cycle around the world . . . . . . yeah ok maybe thats too far fetched but wouldnt that just cause a stir now?
haha
Take care people and good luck with all your individual activities, your all amazing =]

[Lena01]

That would be an awesome thing to do!!! I wouldn't probably be able to do it myself but I'll be wishing all the time I would have joined you. I will be still in the university by then and messed up with certain things.

I don't have much advice to give either. I have never biked more than 20 miles. All I wanted to say is that it's a great idea to carry on and if you ever pass by my house (wherever it is at that moment) you have a place to stay.

Just... azzum!!!

[tin-tin]

aaaaah still at uni
thats a bummer
but sure youd be able to do it
anybody could do it
if your not trying to beat any records
then you just take it at your own pace
i mean obviously if it takes several years there could be some problem (although there are people who do that of course)
but on the other hand
just aslong as you dont over do it to make sure you stay healthy the whole way
plan properly andgo in a pair or more, theres nothing to worry about . . or so i hope anyway
i spose in the end
the key is preperation
if i prepare correctly everything should flow together
but first things first
i must find myself a vegan partner to go with me and do it together, is no use finding somebody a month before i go without them having done any training and/or preperation
nows the time i spose

but i wish you luck with whatever you end up doing after uni lena
maybe do your own version on a smaller scale if you don't wanna take the international risks
the world is your oyester, a very healthy untouched happy oyester minding its own business somwhere of course =]

[I'm Your Man]

That is great and I hope you'll be able to make this goal/dream come true.
Concerning road/mountain bike, it's important, even if breaking records is not your priority.You can ride on road w/ a mountain bike, but it makes a huge difference after just a couple of miles because mountain bike is often twice heavier and the tires are not appropriate so there's constantly a loss of speed during every second of every minute, so loss of energy. Since you gonna carry some bags and equipment, every miligram the bike itself weight is important.
And you simply can't ride in mountains and deep dirt with a roadbike, it's better to walk.

But anyway, you NEED sponcers and some publicity if you want people to hear from you and the vegan cause, and that's what gonna give you indispensable help for providing you : hotel rooms, vans to carry your clothes etc, speech on radio/television and writing articles about you, sending your bike by boat or airplane or providing you a new bike for each continent separated by ocean.

You might want to see this movie Emmanuel's Gift about a disabled guy that do something like you want to do with a bike and to milite for a cause
http://www.emmanuelsgift.com/

[markc7]

I've done my share of extreme endurance events so maybe I can chime in here. I think that with a huge amount of planning and training this would be doable. Physically training won't be a big deal; on extremely long expedition like this lots of people suggest that you basically "train as you go". For example, hikers walking the Appalachian Trail often start off with minimal training and walk 8 miles per day, and 2000 miles later are capable of much longer daily mileage. The same thing would be possible on a long bike ride. So don't worry too much about physical side of things (unless for some reason you plan to start somewhere that requires you to cover huge mileage right off the bat).

Having said that, you will still need to spend hours and hours on the bike before your trip. You'll have to figure out exactly what your body needs nutrition-wise. What kind of bike suits your needs. What to carry and what to leave behind. How to fix anything that might go wrong with your bike. What ratio of rest days : biking days your body can handle. Etc etc. There are lots of organized long distance bike rides that'll give you the chance to figure this stuff out in a fairly safe way.

Even more important is mental preparation. Within a few days into your trip, you will be able to come up with dozens of reasons to quit. To keep going you'll need to exercise an amount of willpower that you may not be able to comprehend unless you've done something like this before. When you start to ask yourself "Why am I doing this" you will need to have a really good response.

Good luck with your plans and I hope that you try this trip. It sounds like a ton of fun. Make sure you are as prepared as possible, so that you have the greatest chance of success.

[Lena01]

I want to do something this awesome when I'm done with school. But I'm not sure how will my life look like by that time, even though I know it will be a bit complicated and occupied. Now I'm just going to do some wild hiking in my pretty island for 15 days. I'm really excited about it.

How long do you think that biking the world will take you? Are you planning to go for as long as it might need to be done or do you have some time constraints?

I think that what I'm-your-man says would be good. Even if you're not doing it for publicity or anything you might just think a bit about how helpful it would be to get some sponsorship. If you're going to dream and act, you could do it big. Besides, there's time to plan ahead and get serious things going on.

I think I know what you mean by no big publicity or anything, just something for you to enjoy but then just some awesome help wouldn't be that bad either!

[tin-tin]

hey guys
its crashed on me like 6 times when trying to post so im kinda annoyed
i dunno wot to do to continue the discussion
it seems like its just gna let me post anything more than about this much
i may msg you each seperately if you dont mind?

so great help by the way invaluable stuff

[tin-tin]

ok it seems to be pickign a chosing wot it lets me post
which is annoying
sorry im your man and mark

as for you lena

yeah
i plan to go for as long as it takes
as for publicity
im a terrible public speaker
but the aim of this is to do it for veganism and try and prove some points
so if theres any coverage or whaever i will accept it

[tin-tin]

so yeah
thanks everybody for some great help there and i am positive it will come in handy
exactly why i decided to message here
so thank you
and i will keep this updated
maybe even whilst im on the move
but i will deff keep this updated wotever happens
so thanks again and anything else you come up with is much appreciated

sorry these are all in little bits,somethings being strange here at the moment

[Lean and Green]

Hey man, just saw this thread, beautiful! I have also shared your dream for the past 4 somewhat years. I bought all the equipment already but never did anything about it. I always thought to myself a partner would be best. If and when you are every truly serious about a specific trip, clue me in, i'm always around over here and would be highly interested and down if I could facilitate it. I have a 'koga miyata' world traveller bicycle, meant specifically for trips just like yours, look into it. Co-Motion makes good ones as well. My first trip, to be honest, I wanted to go cross the states over here. That would be lovely if you were interested in that. I wanted to go east to west as who the heck wants to wind up where they live, id rather wind up on the west coast. Even though I suppose it would be nice to have a welcome home committee . Look at this site for inspiration and paths all around the world. Adventure Cycling. So many people have done this before so there is plenty of info. My other trip was he desire to cut through north and south america and wind up in chile at the bottom.

[tin-tin]

aaaah
lean&green
could you possibly be the savoir of my trip?
and i am deadly serious about it my friend
ive dreamed of a hundred different ways i wanted to do it, i started with wanting to do it on a scooter.. then a proper bike and so on
and i eventually decided, why one of them, why not just cycle it and prove some points about veganism whilst im doing it =]
but yeah ive deff decided a partner is best, imean its never safe alone, even in america, whatwas it, the world record holder Mark Beaumont (who used your bike i do believe?) even he got mugged, so yeah, probly best with a partner, and probably makes it easier overall
from your message I cant work out if you was interested in the round the world, or just across the states?
but the north to south sounds cool too, similar to "Long Way Down"?
but am glad theres somebody interested in partnering it, is a big relief

[tin-tin]

so today i was playing football (or "soccer") and it didn't go to well

not only did i pull a muscle in my right quad
but i also tore a ligament in my ankle
i thought i had snapped my bone to be honest the crack was so loud
i may have to go get it checke out cos its pretty swollen and icurrently cant do a whole lot

. . . . oops
so yeah i guess training is gna be put on hold for a little while =/ . . . not a great start huh?

[Lena01]

tin tin take care about that. i hope you recover soon. there's a trip to be made!!!

[tin-tin]

haha
there is indeed a trip to be made =]
although its in 2010
so i have a little while to recover
i shall take more care next time

[pazios2002]

So I haven't came here much recently I've been real busy trying to finish my first year of university.
But im free now.
I thought I would take this oppertunity to talk about my new "goal".
Basically.
I finish university in the summer of 2010, so my plan, is to start training now, and then when I finish university, to cycle around the world.
I'm not attempting to break any world records or do anything special, except promote the word vegan, and hopefully make the whole "vegan thing" more acceptable, if it makes even 1 person think differently then its worth a cycle right?
I have no experience at doing this type of thing, not do I have any sponsorship or even a great bike.
Although talking of bikes, as im not attempting any records i dont spose it matters if I have a road bike or a mountain bike does it?
Surely a mountain bike would be more suitable in certain areas of the world where roads can get a bit sketchy?
But thats the type of thing i'm going to need help with knowing about.
I just want to do my bit for promoting vegan ethics, and ive been thinking about going around the world for awhile now, so im finally putting my mind to it, starting some training and planning what im gonna do, as well as get talking to some influencial people hopefully.

Anyway I think thats about all, I heard it's also probably best to have a partner? Going alone can be dodgy for obvious reasons, and going in a pair is always best, or as some people have done i think they go alone but meet a mate in a car at checkpoints or something, any views idea or help from anybody with experience of this kind of thing would be MUCH appreciated, in the end I AM doing this no matter what, so the more information i can gather in the next two years will make it so much more workable for me, and hopefully good for veganism if it all works out?
im just aiming for the kind of "Well if you can cycle around the world, then it can't be that bad can it?" kind of reaction.

and yeah im pretty certain this has been done a million times before, although I couldnt find a vegan but im positive somebody vegan must have done this before, but these days people are getting more and more open minded so it could be just the right time to do such a thing.

Thanks in advance for anybody who cares to help . . . or join me? maybe we could do an entire forum cycle around the world . . . . . . yeah ok maybe thats too far fetched but wouldnt that just cause a stir now?
haha
Take care people and good luck with all your individual activities, your all amazing =]

cycling around the world is a great goal. Good luck on it.