This article is one in a series of interviews with long-term international bike tourists. This time I talked with
Alastair Humphrey to get his take on things.
World Bike Touring Examiner (WBTE): Would you please explain a tad bit about where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Alastair: I cycled round the world, the length of the Earth's 3 major landmasses: Africa, the Americas and Eurasia.
WBTE: How long were you on the road?
Alastair: 72,000km and over 4 years
WBTE: What prompted such an extended journey? Had you done a lot of touring before?
Alastair: I had done some shortish trips at university. I wanted to ride round the world, and I wanted to do the job properly!
WBTE: I know there are plenty of wonderful days when the sun is shining and you’ve got the wind at your back. But there are also days when it’s raining or you face a headwind or you’re climbing a hill that just won’t end. How do you get through those days? What keeps you going?
Alastair: I had 2 rules:
- I was not allowed to give up when I was cold, hungry, tired, sick, afraid etc.
- I was only allowed to give up if I thought of anything better to do with my life. I never did, so I kept riding!
WBTE: As hard as it is to pick out one or two highlights – would you, could you? Tell us about a couple of those incredibly wow-ing, drop-your-jaw experiences you’ve had.
Alastair: Reaching the end of Africa - seeing the ocean ahead of me and thinking "Wow, I have ridden all the way here from England." It gave me a lot of confidence to begin.
Arriving in Samarkand was also special - I had been dreaming of visiting for years.
WBTE: What about those days you wish you could forget (but you know you never will)? Those days when everything goes wrong and then even more goes wrong? Tell us about a couple of those.
Alastair: Riding through Siberia, in winter, was hard. Three months at temperatures down to -40?C were tough. The worst thing was waking up in the tent in the morning and trying to force yourself to get out of the warm sleeping bag! Yuk!
WBTE: You’ve toured through many countries and I know they each are unique and have their advantages and disadvantages. But, if you were to talk with someone relatively new to cycle touring, where would you recommend they go? Why?
Alastair: Patagonia: wild, beautiful, exciting, safe, a relatively easy language. No hassle from people, clean water, lovely meadows to camp in... Bliss!
WBTE: Any special tips or advice to wannabe tourers?
Alastair: Just begin! Don't think too much about it! Just get started. You will figure the details out quickly enough. If you do not enjoy it you can always go home. That's better than having regrets about not even starting.
WBTE: Thanks for your time Alastair. I can't wait to get to Patagonia after all I've heard about that area!
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If you enjoyed this interview, you might enjoy these other interviews with world cyclists:
Goat from Riding the Spine - Alaska to Argentina on dirt roads
Sean from Riding the Spine - Alaska to Argentina on dirt roads
Jacob from Riding the Spine - Alaska to Argentina on dirt roads
Friedel from Travelling Two - 3 years around the world
Sonya and Aaldrik from Tour.TK - 3 years on the road, currently in South America
Alastair Humphreys - 4 years on 3 continents - Africa, Asia, America
Peter Gostelow - pedaled from Japan to England; now headed toward Africa
Tim & Cindie from Down the Road - 7 years on the road and no plans to stop
Jaime Bianchini of Peace Pedalers - nearly 8 years through 77 countries on tandem picking up strangers
Andrew Morgan of Teacher on Two Wheels - Looking for students to teach and to learn from
Amaya Williams of World Biking - Around the world a time or two
Harry and Ivana of World on a Bike - Cycling the Pan American Highway
There are also a number of families who have adopted a life on the road with their children:
The Williams family is on a open-ended tour on a triple bike with their 9-year-old son.
Rebekka and Florian traveled the Pan American Highway to Tierra del Fuego with their small son in a trailer.
The Verhage family with sons aged 11 & 13 have cycled south from LA. They are now in Peru.
The Miller family Spent one year cycling Europe and North Africa with 4 kids.
My family is currently cycling the Pan American Highway - we've cycled 16,000 km from Alaska to Colombia so far. You can find us at Family on Bikes.
Contact me via email at familyonbikes@gmail.com
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