The Scottish bicycle traveler who holds the world record for fastest circumnavigation of the Earth is taking his BBC audience on a bicycle tour of the Americas.
As I write this, Mark Beaumont is returning from his ascent of Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska by foot.
Over the next seven or eight months, the 26-year-old bicycle adventurer will pedal the coastal mountain ranges all the way to Argentina where he'll summit Aconcagua in the Andes.
Global cyclist
In February last year, Beaumont finished an 18,000-mile solo bicycle tour that circumnavigated the globe. His 195-day trip shattered the previous record of 276 days.
His latest challenge is to bicycle the American Cordillera — the series of mountain ranges roughly along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Argentina. He's riding in cooperation with BBC, which is filming parts of the bicycle tour and hosting his blog at the BBC website.
Beaumont explained the tasks he faced a few weeks ago:
“Cycling the world was difficult but this journey has the potential to be even harder. This time I'll be cycling at altitude and I'll also be climbing the two highest mountains in the Americas.”
Denali
Beaumont flew to Anchorage and started his bicycle journey on May 29 as he departed for a two-day ride to Talkeetna, where he attended mountaineering school.
His mountain-climbing team made the summit of Denali on Wednesday and returned to base camp in a grueling 16-hour ordeal; apparently the weather deteriorated into a blizzard that allowed zero visibility near the summit.
In a telephone interview with BBC:
“Myself and the team up here have just spent the last 15 hours summiting Mount McKinley and it's certainly taken it's toll on us, but this is the first part of a seven-month expedition for me so it's a great relief that it's gone well.”
Follow Beaumont
There are a couple of ways to track Beaumont on his trip.
His blog at BBC is entitled “Cycling the Americas” and is updated by Beaumont as well as staff members of BBC who are in contact with him. Unfortunately, the video and audio posts on the blog aren't available in the US.
Beaumont also has Twitter account, and a Facebook page.
Also, Beaumont is posting photographs, such as the one at top, to Flickr.com at cyclingtheamericas.
Recent Comments