Mark Beaumont's Diary - August 2007
Despite adding about 2kg to his overall kit weight, Mark carried a laptop, GPS tracker, three cameras and a voice recorder to help him document his journey.
He sent us text messages and phoned from the road and whenever he passed through civilisation, he popped into internet caf茅s to email pictures and videos.
First news from the road!
Mark Beaumont, Tuesday, 07 August 2007.
We just got a text in from Mark (who's currently just outside German):
Soaked yesterday and 3 punctures in 24hrs didn't help progress. 80 miles per day is ok for 1st week. Can pick up later. Glad I am now away. Kit all good. Not much filming yet. Will get thru Holland and in2 Germany 2mor. Will send blog soon. M.
Less than a week to go!
Mark Beaumont, Thursday, 09 August 2007.
Once again it is late, 2.37am to be pedantic, and I am attempting to finish my daily list. Whether over ambitious (discuss at will) or just not fast enough (the jury is out), I can't remember ever finishing my list of daily targets of 'jobs'. However, as always, progress has been made and there is very little time to worry about the 'if only's' because I leave to drive to Paris in about 36 hours!
This last weekend in Scotland has been amazing. I could not ask for better memories of home to accompany me for seven months of solo travel. Saturday was spend in the heart of Perthshire around Loch Tay where I started and took part on the Artemis Highland 100, a biking adventure race to raise money for the same charities which I am cycling around the world for. After 85 very hilly miles, I had tested the new wheels and bottom bracket which I got for the expedition bike last week and had given the legs a very hilly last training run before a weeks rest.
Sunday was the official media launch and send off party at the Radisson SAS Hotel in Glasgow. A huge thank you to the 100+ people who turned up - I was very touched to see so many old (and new) friends coming from every corner of the UK to see me off. Whilst it was great to speak to everyone, after over four hours of 'turbo chat' I was literally exhausted and left with a sense that I had hardly spoken to anyone. You must all keep in touch and I am glad you saw the glamour of expedition cycling before the beard grows long and the long road does strange things to my banter! Any good photos from the event can you please let me know through the Guestbook at www.artemisworldcycle.com.
Back in Edinburgh for a last night of packing and preparation... I am constantly amazed how time accelerates when you are busy - where has 2007 gone. However, I have a funny feeling it might slow down a bit on the road!
2am, again...
Mark Beaumont, Thursday, 09 August 2007.
Hello, hello, hello... welcome to my adventure! Everyone should have an adventure in life and this is my current one! My name is Mark Beaumont and I fully intend to cycle 18,000 miles around the world and set a new Guinness World Record.
Mark
I would love to set the scene with a picture of serenity and stories of choreographed perfection in last minute preparations. Alas, it is, yet again 2am and I am looking forwards to 4 hour shut eye before another day of organised chaos!
Earlier this year, getting this expedition started felt like trying to jump up a downwards-escalator with my feet tied together, however, somewhere down the line everything subtly picked up momentum. With one week left, I am now left with a slightly helpless feeling of being swept along on a roller coaster of activity which is going to deposit me, whether ready or not, without much warning or time to reflect, at the start line of my 210 day cycle race around world.
Mark
Over the next seven months I hope you will join my expedition online to follow the highs and lows of the ultimate solo endurance cycle race. Sounds pretty epic in those scary terms... I prefer to think of it as simply cycling about 100ish miles a day for 200ish days! Does that sound easier? Ahem... well maybe if I said it was as easy as cycling from Edinburgh to Glasgow and back again every day for 7 months... better? I guess that there is no way of making this sound like a reasonable proposition! Regardless, this is my reality and with stage 1 (planning and training) nearly over, I can't wait to start stage 2 (the cycle).
More intro and background to follow soon but for now I msujd jd sn zzz zz z...
First news from the road!
Mark Beaumont, Thursday, 09 August 2007.
We just got a text in from Mark (who's currently just outside Germany):
Soaked yesterday and 3 punctures in 24hrs didn't help progress. 80 miles per day is ok for 1st week. Can pick up later. Glad I am now away. Kit all good. Not much filming yet. Will get thru Holland and in2 Germany 2mor. Will send blog soon. M.
One Week On The Road!
Mark Beaumont, Wednesday, 15 August 2007.
Leg 1
From Paris to Istanbul was meant to be an easy warm up through Europe, however, in reality it has been a tough week! I had been meaning to send back messages long before now but every moment and ounce of mental reserved has been used getting into the expedition and cycling 100 miles a day. Tonight I am in Leipzig, Germany. I am sure it has a good side but this evening, during a heavy rainstorm, it looked distinctly drab and run down.
Week one has brought me through France, Belgium, Holland (for 4 hours) and for the last three days, Germany. The first couple of days I had a support car in the form of Mum, Heather and Jenny (a big thank you), and for day 1 I had the 麻豆官网首页入口 cameras following the start. Since then, I have been met most evenings by Piotr, a Polish physio from International Athletes Angels. This sounds like a lots of support, and it has been fantastic, but most of the time I have been left to my own devices to get into the mindset of the open road.
The change from the mayhem which was the last month's preparations, to being on my own on the road was bizarre. My first reaction, leaving Paris after the adrenaline of the start was absolute exhaustion. So much so that I could hardly keep my eyes open on the bike. This fatigue stayed with me for a few days, but since then, and with more space to focus after the support car left at Brussels, I have been able to think ahead, think back and of course focus on each days challenges.
I have mixed emotions about the scale of the cycle at this point; 200+ days seems a lot when you are on the bike and the idea of another 8 hours that day seems a lot! However, mostly I am exited about the challenge and every time it really hurts, or something is going wrong I am aware that any desperation is transitory and the overall emotion is of focus and enthusiasm.
Today is a good example. I woke at 6am in my tent and it was pouring, and having been raining for the best part of three days, most clothes and gear, despite the best of efforts was wet. After just 40km I broke a spoke on my rear wheel, which was a real disaster and a real surprise with such good wheels after just seven days on the road. After two hours re-building my wheel I set off once more in the rain and by not stopping again managed to fit in my planned 160km by dark.
This meant cycling into Leipzig in a downpour late in the evening and desperately looking for cheap accommodation so I could dry everything out. In my haste, as I crossed some wet tram tracks, my front wheel shot out from under me and I came crashing down as I was still clipped into my pedals. I finally found a hotel and am clean and dry for the first time in a few days! All in all a pretty challenging day.
Must get some sleep and do some repacking but will send more soon. A lot more stories from week one on the road that will have to wait. Hoping to reach Poland tomorrow...
God Bless Mobile Phones
Mark Beaumont, Wednesday, 15 August 2007.
During the initial leg of Mark's trip he's sometimes found it hard to get in touch as he's only just now settling into the rhythm of the journey.
Despite this, he has managed to send a few text messages (generally at around midnight or 7am, so either way it's waking me up!!!) to let us know how he's going and I thought it'd be nice to share a few of them with you all:
News...In Poland, big hills. Wheel broke again so totally rebuilt yesterday. Mid 30s so warm. On target. Been a rough few days. Beard starting 2look gd! Mark (14/08/07)
Yesterday stats: 163.2km 2 Leipzig. V wet. A cool 16 degrees. Flattish with 805m ascent. 1092.9km in 7 days (12/08/07)
Fri 10th, 181km. 1370m ascent inc a 10km climb. 109bmp average heart rate. 21 degrees average temp. Only rained a wee bit but woken this morning 2torrential rain plus wind. (11/08/07)
Hi from Krakow
Mark Beaumont, Thursday, 16 August 2007.
11 days and 1100 miles behind me!
Week one challenges with the back wheel continued into week two with another broken spoke which prompted a complete wheel rebuild in Poland a few days ago. Slightly drastic action at this early stage but I had little choice after the breakages and can't risk this happening east of Istanbul.
To get a bit techy for a second, the breakages are because the internally-geared hub that I use takes a 32 spoke wheel which is weaker than a traditional 36 or 40 spoke rear wheel. However, it should be strong enough and for the sake of the gearing (which is proving to be superb) I am giving the wheel one last chance. If it breaks again though, I will be swapping the whole system for traditional gears and a wheel with more spokes (techy chat ends)!
For now, I am riding like a luny to try and test the wheel as much as possible so if it is going to break, it will happen before Istanbul. After that, repairs get tricky!
Today was a real test for the new wheel as the roads of eastern Poland have deteriorated to patchwork quilts of uneven tarmac which make the roads of greater Glasgow look flawless!
After a beautiful day in the flatlands yesterday I am back into the rolling hills, although not as big as the ski areas on the German border. As further contrast, it has been blisteringly hot for the last two days, hitting 40 degrees today. After four days sleeping wild without a shower, I saw myself for the first time a few hours ago and resembled a caveman with a rudolf red nose. It was never the most subtle nose in the world due to its generous dimensions, and is now a glowing beakon in the middle of eastern Europe!
I was planning to camp again tonight but found myself too close to Krakow at the end of the day so am staying at a very plush, ridiculously cheap, hotel and am fairly sure that my posh wee en-suite has never seen such minging hand washing before!
Hoping to reach to Ukrainian border area tomorrow evening and then turn further south. At that point I will leave Piotr, my physio, masseause and Polish 'fixer' who has been meeting me every so often and has been increadibly helpful over the last week. A huge thank you.
Must sleep... and find the aftersun!
All the best to reality
Mark
Leg 1 - DONE!
Mark Beaumont, Tuesday, 28 August 2007.
Made it!
2277 miles in 22 days from Paris to Istanbul. Leg 1 has been tougher than expected and a whole adventure by itself... but is only the very start! I am so tired right now I am struggling to type so will save the detail for tomorrow.
In brief, I finished today with a very hilly 130 miles in the 40 degree heat. Entering Istanbul took over 2 hours and was without comparison is the scariest cycling I have ever done. Entering a city of over 15 million people is tricky! Met the Beeb and got some good footage to prove I ain't exagerating!
Great sense of relief that despite the challenges with bike, weather etc, the legs are in great shape and I am on target. More chat to follow as I've got plenty of stories from the road. For now I gotta sleep.
Oh yes, a note on the next bit...the plan is a day off every 14 and in light of having just done 22 non stop and about to head into one of the toughest stretches I have decided to rest up for two days instead of one here as I have a lot of bike maintainance, sorting and prep to do - but don't worry, loads of photos and audio clips online soon of leg one and the race will resume on Wednesday when I cycle into Asia!
Hmmm, all very exciting but for now I must sleep...
