Because It Is There: A Zero Emissions Odyssey

…and so it began. I finally set off on March 24th from my home to cycle and sail around the globe. It was a rather strange feeling, not because i wouldn’t see me home again for 3 years but because it didn’t feel like i was doing anything other than going on a short training trip. This could have been due to the fact that it was a rather low key affair with my parents and a couple of neighbours waving me off. It felt good to pedal away from home after 18 months of planning, training and sponsorship hunting.

I took the slow route out of my village so i could take in the surroundings one final time for the last time in 3 years. My destination was the Birmingham NEC for the Outdoors Show Extra where i was exhibiting and chatting about my expedition to anyone who was interested (or would listen).

I had to make the dash to the NEC in a day and half which, at the time i thought was fairly easy as i had been training by doing 70 miles a day with a loaded bike however there was, of course, the inevitable hiccups.

The first major issue was with the trailer i’m pulling which holds to of my panniers. Amongst the mixed emotion of leaving i had to pack my panniers (twice) but, for some reason, i was more concerned about organizing each bit of equipment into panniers by size as opposed to weight (i’m not sure why) so that as i was riding the weight on the trailer was on way side more than the other. Due to the trailer being attached to the rear axle the weight on one side managed to twist the trailer hard enough to pull the wheel out off place. It was just a case of putting the wheel back on the bike and rearranging the panniers but it was pitch black and i wasn’t in a very nice part of town. A friendly policeman did turn up to help me and upon learning more about the expedition gave me two jam doughnuts which definitely helped.

Another issue i had was that i was cycling the fastest route to Birmingham which involved pedaling down a duel carriage way which made it extremely difficult to find a spot for my first night’s camp. I eventually found a small field in the dark and as i started putting up the tent heavy rain started i got a thorough soaking so my first nights camp was a damp one.

The next day a scrambled into my damp clothes for my first full days riding. Within a few hours i had my first puncture. Obviously not a big issue but taking off all the panniers to fix a puncture gets a little tedious. I quickly identified the problem and set about extracting a shard of glass from my tyre and was about to fix the puncture when i realized my pump didn’t work properly. 50+ miles into a 50,000 mile ride and my bicycle pump doesn’t work – great! I eventually got the tire sorted with the help of a nice hot cup of tea from the man whose house i was sat in front of.

This delayed me by a couple of hours so when i finally got into Birmingham it was dark which made the navigation to the NEC extremely difficult. Coupled with the fact that the UK map i bought didn’t include and roads other than major roads i got rather lost in the city (or at least the outskirts). I did eventually arrive at the hotel but rather later than intended.

Anyway, enough of the moaning. I did enjoy most of the ride down (except for the above points) and the feeling to actually be on the expedition is great.

I’ll be writing another, more positive, blog post very shortly, possibly regarding new sponsors.

p.s. Thanks to all the message you guys sent me, it was very much appreciated

p.p.s. I understand the site looks a little jumbled up if your viewing it in Safari. I trying to get the problem sorted.