Mark Beaumont — heard of him? I’m sorry to say that I hadn’t until recently (I think).
Mark became the “fastest man to cycle around the world” in 2008. He did so in 194 days and 17 hours. BBC commissioned a film of this record-breaking journey and news agencies around the world picked up the story (I wasn’t quite the news addict then, so apparently missed it).
Anyway, that was 2008. Since that time, he has also taken a 9-month bicycling trip down North and South America, traveling down the world’s longest mountain range and climbing both continent’s highest peaks along the journey — those would be 20,327-ft Mount McKinley in Alaska and 22,841-ft Aconcagua in Argentina.
Wow. All of this was also covered by BBC.
Not done yet, though…
Mark’s next effort it going to be rowing to the magnetic North Pole with 5 other guys. The purpose of Row to the Pole, as the adventure is called, is “to highlight the already dramatic effect of climate change on the ice around the Polar Regions.”
No, he has no rowing experience, but apparently BBC wants to cover this amazing expedition as well and needed a cameraman who could go the distance with 5-person crew. With his experience cycling around the world while being covered by BBC, the media agency decided to ask him to be that cameraman. He jumped at the opportunity.
It’s less than 100 days until the start of Row to the Pole, but the crew are intensely training now.
“I’m used to riding solo on my expeditions, so this is going to be a big change,” Mark said. “I’m going to have to get used to living with others at such close quarters for two months! It’s certainly something new for me, it’s a totally different skill set. As much as I’ve enjoyed the bike expeditions, I thought it was too good an opportunity to turn down. It’s great to be learning new skills and although I’m enjoying the change, I’ll definitely return to the bike in the future. I’m still doing plenty of training on the bike, and I’d love to do more ‘off the beaten track’ cycling expeditions further down the line.”
If you’re interested in learning more, Mark’s got a couple books out on his adventures: The Man Who Cycled the Americas and The Man Who Cycled the World. Plus there is all the BBC coverage of Mark’s adventures.
