She cycled away from her hometown of Sundsvall Sweden in the early spring of 2015 with the goal to cycle around the world and to experience foreign lands and cultures.  She wanted to overcome the personal challenges of riding into the ruthless headwinds, the freezing cold, the tormenting heat and be able to say in the end, “Girl.  You actually did it.”  But this bike ramble was also something bigger – a fundraiser in support of ActionAid, an organization defending the human rights of the world’s most vulnerable girls and woman.  After 33 months, 51,000 km, and 45 countries she accomplished her mission and you can learn more about it at thebikeramble.com.  Fredrika Ek, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Photos by Martijn Doolaard at espiritu-libre.com.

From his home in Reading England to the finish line in Reading, PA it was a journey of 46,500 km spanning over 3 years.  On a bicycle he built for less than 500 pounds he cycled through 39 countries experiencing the stunning vistas of Kyrgyzstan and the soul-crushing roads of the Atacama Desert. In El Salvador he was hit by a car and hospitalized, but continued on with a new bike.  As part of the adventure he is raising funds for The Royal Berks Charity and SOS Children’s Villages and you can learn more at his website reading2reading.com.  Tim Millikin, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Adam Sultan first appeared in episode 117 where he talked about his project called #LifeYears aimed at making every single year of his life memorable and unique.  Two years ago, Adam began a multi-year cycling adventure called #RideTheWorld and he’s here to talk about how the adventure has unfolded so far. You can learn more about Adam at his website adamtsultan.com.  Adam Sultan, welcome back to the show.

In 2011 Kate Harris and her friend Mel set off from Istanbul to begin a journey on the fabled silk road trading route.  It was an adventure that lasted 10 months and covered nearly 10,000 km as they cycled in 10 different countries as well as the forbidden Tibetan plateau where they skirted checkpoints and did their best to avoid Chinese authorities ultimately completing their journey in the city of Leh in the Indian Himalayas.  You can read about this self-supported adventure in Kate’s new book Lands of Lost Borders – A Journey on the Silk Road and check it out online at cyclingsilk.com.  Kate Harris, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

Kate’s website…

Tim Moss has a new book titled With the Sun on Our Right.  It chronicles the 16-month ‘round-the-world cycle tour he and his wife Laura began in 2013 cycling over 13,000 miles in 26 countries and 4 continents.  Before this, Tim spent 5 years working in the expedition industry supporting expeditions on all 7 continents. His own expeditions have included scaling unclimbed mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia and Russia and traveling around the world using eighty different methods of transport as well as setting the Guinness World Record for the longest distance cycled in a rickshaw.  You can learn more about Tim and his adventures at thenextchallenge.org where he encourages others to go on adventures and offers The Next Challenge Expedition Grant each year to help them do so.  Tim Moss, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

June 2018 will be the second time Ralph Karsten starts the Tour Divide at the Grand Depart in Banff Canada.  The Tour Divide is an annual self-supported mountain bike race that follows the nearly 2,700-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Canada to the Mexican border.  Ralph also enjoys primitive camping, practicing survival skills, and flying hang-gliders.  Ralph Karsten, welcome to The Pursuit Zone.

• Show Notes:
• Tour Divide
• Bikepacking.net
• Ride the Divide movie
• Inspired to Ride movie
• The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour
• Born to Run
• Jones Bikes
• Banff Airporter
• Salsa Cutthroat
• ZPacks Hexamid
• Garmin eTrex
• Spot locator
• Colorado Trail
• Arizona Trail
• Black Hills Expedition
• MTBCast
• Adventure Cycling Association
• Mike Hall
• Alessi brothers on YouTube
• Atma-Sphere