Mark Beaumont is off again

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Phil66
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Joined: 10 Jul 2009, 9:46am

Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by Phil66 »

I see that Beaumont fella is off again. Cairo to Cape Town, 10,000KM at 240KM a day.

Rather him than me....

http://markbeaumontonline.com/
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BeeKeeper
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by BeeKeeper »

Hats off to him but I would be more interested in someone doing 24 km a day and writing about the places they were travelling through. Which is not to detract from his task and hopefully the result. Awesome.
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jamesgilbert
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by jamesgilbert »

Thanks for posting, I'll look forward to following his progress!

@BeeKeeper, I agree but I'm not sure that's really possible on this kind of route - he mentions on one of the videos from Egypt that he's had a police escort for most of the way! Maybe some of the other countries will be a bit more relaxed.
pwa
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by pwa »

I think I am more interested in this sort of thing when it is something that, in my wildest dreams, I would like to have done myself. This does not fall into that category. I could imagine wanting to take on all the natural obstacles such as the heat, the distance, the mud and the wildlife, but for much of Africa the main worry is human. And that sort of challenge is not, for me, worthwhile. I hope he comes out the other end safe and well, but I'm not feeling inspired by his choice of challenge.
geocycle
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by geocycle »

He comes across as a nice guy with a really positive attitude to life. I really liked his round the world trip which was inspiring and focussed on the journey as much as the record. Since then he has become increasingly professional as travel has become his occupation, his activities have become more contrived and focussed on the end point, and as a result less accessible. When reading these accounts I like to be able to suspend belief and imagine I could be doing the journey whereas these record attempts with fixers and military guards just leave me cold.
Ben@Forest
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by Ben@Forest »

geocycle wrote: I really liked his round the world trip which was inspiring and focussed on the journey as much as the record. Since then he has become increasingly professional as travel has become his occupation, his activities have become more contrived and focussed on the end point, and as a result less accessible. When reading these accounts I like to be able to suspend belief and imagine I could be doing the journey whereas these record attempts with fixers and military guards just leave me cold.


Yes I agree with this (though I think on his original trip he had to have a police escort all the way through Pakistan). These TV-series trips are not a genuine reflection of an individual or two-up effort. I think (hazy memory) that on Ewan MacGregor'/Charlie Boorman's motorcycle trip down Africa they bumped into a solo touring cyclist somewhere in central Africa doing the same thing. And I thought that the story of his trip would be more interesting than two blokes on high powered motorbikes, a support vehicle, probably a spare bike if they needed it, camera crew, local fixers etc, etc...
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hondated
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Joined: 27 Mar 2008, 7:59am
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by hondated »

geocycle wrote:He comes across as a nice guy with a really positive attitude to life.


I met him and his mum once and they were both very pleasant and chatty. I follow Mark on Twitter and he very often responds to my tweets whereas many others don't.
Last edited by hondated on 16 Apr 2015, 6:10pm, edited 1 time in total.
robing
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by robing »

pwa wrote:I think I am more interested in this sort of thing when it is something that, in my wildest dreams, I would like to have done myself. This does not fall into that category. I could imagine wanting to take on all the natural obstacles such as the heat, the distance, the mud and the wildlife, but for much of Africa the main worry is human. And that sort of challenge is not, for me, worthwhile. I hope he comes out the other end safe and well, but I'm not feeling inspired by his choice of challenge.


I agree with you. The scenery and wildlife would be amazing. And from what I've read, most of the people would be friendly and welcoming. But it's not for me. Even the previously safe countries of north Africa are now more dangerous. But I wish him well, and have read his books on his rtw trip and the Americas. He broke the record on his rtw trip that held been held since the 80s, but his record was broken less than a year later I believe.
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shane
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Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by shane »

jamesgilbert wrote:
@BeeKeeper, I agree but I'm not sure that's really possible on this kind of route
>>> http://www.shanecycles.com/category/shanes-shorts/ :wink:

Fair play to Marks sporting prowess, Shame he's missing so much of Africa by being in such a hurry, and also taking some of the most dangerous roads by taking a very direct route and to save time.

Each to their own, Good luck Mark.
thayer19
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Joined: 1 Oct 2014, 11:39am

Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by thayer19 »

What he has achieved is impressive, however, his 'ethos' is the opposite of what touring cycling actually is. I also find it a bit annoying how everything he does is based on struggles and pain i.e I felt most of his docu was either him struggling to find vegetarian food and complaining or cycling in the rain. Julian Sayarer in my opinion was a much more worthy record holder of rtw and his motivations were partly driven by beating Mark Beaumont and taking the record back for the 'people' as his attempt was largely corporatised and sponsored by hotels en route.

The whole record is getting a bit ridiculous, I think its less than 100 days now. Either way hats off as I wouldn't ever attempt that
MartinBrice
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Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 9:57am

Re: Mark Beaumont is off again

Post by MartinBrice »

Ben@Forest wrote:
geocycle wrote:I think (hazy memory) that on Ewan MacGregor'/Charlie Boorman's motorcycle trip down Africa they bumped into a solo touring cyclist somewhere in central Africa doing the same thing. And I thought that the story of his trip would be more interesting

His name is Jason Lewis. Astonishing story of the first human-powered circumnavigation. Not using sails, only human power. In a nutshell: two London window cleaners, cycle to Portugal, pedal a specially-designed boat(it's in the National Maritime Museum now) to the US. His mate cycles to California, he roller-blades and is hit by a drunken 80 year old with cataracts and both legs are broken, the surgeon lets him stay on his ranch while he recovers, he goes back to the spot of the accident and takes up the trip again, they pedal to Hawaii. At this point the trip has taken five years and they thought it'd take three. His mate leaves (he now works on a ferry in the west country crossing the same bit of water every day). Jason goes on, pedals the boat to Asia, cycles across India, pedals the Indian ocean to Africa, cycles (in Africa he met the motorcyclists) to Calais, pedals to Greenwich. The whole trip took 13 years. There are three books about it. He was offered loads of money to rush out a quick book for the Christmas market but spent years writing what he wanted to say. He's a nice chap, I met him once in London. On YouTube there is a clip of him meeting the bikers. It's an astonishing story of determination, grit, adventure, and ask on a shoestring. In the US he was sleeping under bridges and raising $50 by giving talks to the local rotary club. He had schools involved. Fantastic epic. Mark Beaumont is an amazing cyclist but this is a different ballgame.
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