Bristol2Beijing

This week I'm not cycling, but instead am exploring some other sports that Georgia has to offer. Plus, I answer questions sent in by our listeners.

We're joined by Jenny Grenfell-Shaw, who has spent the last week on the back of the tandem.

Listen to find out my first impressions of Tblisi, plus to hear what it is really like spending a week travelling with my mum.

Welcome to Georgia! This week hear about my experiences crossing the Turkish-Georgian border, what it's like being possibly the ONLY tourist in a country, and my initial thoughts on visiting a country that's been on my bucket list for a long time...

This is the final episode from Turkey! After spending two months in Turkey it's time for me to cross into Georgia. Listen to this episode to hear about my week on the road and also to hear my reflections on the time spent in Turkey, people I met, places I saw and experiences that I had.

Yet again I'm back in Ankara! In this weeks episode listen to Kate and I chatting about the occasional bike maintenance struggles and the fantastic people that I've been able to meet due to having such bad luck recently with keeping the tandem roadworthy. How does trusting people that I've only just met work when I'm travelling?

I also chat to Suna Yilmaz, who I stayed with in Ankara at the start of the week. With her teammates Suna was part of an expedition where the first Turkish women summited Everest - and she was one of them! Since then, she's continued being active and alongside working at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, she now competes in half-ironman triathlon races.

After a week of rest and recuperation in Cappadocia, I headed back to Ankara to pick up my tandem bike before hitting the road again.

Tune in to this episode to hear what happened over the last weeks journey!

This week I arrived in Ankara and jumped on a bus to Cappadocia to stay with Adam Oliver, the head of Robert College in Istanbul - one of Turkey's leading schools.

Listen to this episode to hear about my week and to hear Adam and I chatting about what he thinks is most important for the current generation of pupils that he teaches.

See below for the poem that Adam Oliver told me about:

The Bright Field - R.S.Thomas

I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone my way

and forgotten it. But that was the pearl

of great price, the one field that had

treasure in it. I realize now

that I must give all that I have

to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after

an imagined past. It is the turning

aside like Moses to the miracle

of the lit bush, to a brightness

that seemed as transitory as your youth

once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

Back on the road for the first time in 2021! Hear about Luke's impressions of Istanbul and Ankara; and his journey, on Chris the tandem, between the two.

What is the Bristol2Beijing podcast about? Find out more about Luke Grenfell-Shaw and his journey from Bristol, UK to Beijing in China.

Josh Day cycled from Bristol to Beijing between 2017 and 2019, an odyssey that saw him cross the Pamir highway in winter and later cycle through Siberia in -25C conditions.

In this podcast we go beyond our shared physical journey, discussing self-reliance, our mindsets during difficult periods and the purpose of goals.

We also discuss what led Josh to leave his grad scheme for Beijing and how he's adjusted to life back in the UK.

See below for Josh's favourite:

Place: Kamchatka, Russia

Piece of Music: Zvezda Po Imeni (A Star Called the Sun) by Kino

Book: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby