Chasing Peaks

Josh Moodie is 22, and he's cycling 15,000 miles from Land's End to the Pacific coast of Russia. Alone. Unsupported. For a whole year.We recorded this a few weeks before he set off. He's now out on the road.Josh is the rider behind The Long Ride East, believed to be a world-first attempt to cycle self-supported from Land's End to Russia's Pacific coast. No crew, no support vehicle, just Josh and everything he needs strapped to his bike. Across more than two dozen countries, through the Alps, the Balkans, Central Asia's deserts, 4,665m passes in Tajikistan and the Mongolian steppe, he's stopping to film the small grassroots charities doing the quiet work most of us never hear about.In this episode:• Why he chose to do it completely unsupported• The route, the borders that might not open, and the Caspian Sea ferry that might not exist• Why Western China could be the hardest stretch of all• How you even train for a year on a bike• Landing sponsors like Patagonia and Kinesis, and what it really costs• The refugee story that changed how he sees the world• His dad, discipline, and "if you say you'll do it, do it"• Loneliness, faith and a year inside your own head• What happens if it ends halfway• And the question everyone's been asking: the hair routineSupport the charities: https://www.justgiving.com/page/thelongrideeast-Follow the journey: http://thelongrideeast.com/aboutInstagram, TikTok and YouTube: @thelongrideeastwww.instagram.com/thelongrideeastCharities featured: Earth Action North Devon, Transformational Enterprise Network and the Pickwell Foundation, plus conservation work in Mongolia.Chasing Peaks is a podcast about the peaks we chase in life, through adventure, fitness, faith, discipline, work, relationships and personal growth. It's about the climb as much as the summit.Hosted by Ben Perkins. Follow @chasingpeaksco

Levi Pike has climbed Mount Fuji for sunrise, interrailed Europe for two months, and is building a marketing business while studying politics at Exeter’s Penryn campus. But the peaks he talks about most are quieter ones: choosing discipline, faith and kindness every single day.

In this episode we chat about:

• Climbing Mount Fuji overnight and the worst altitude headache of his life
• Meeting 25 strangers in a Paris hostel and ending up under the Eiffel Tower
• Why every peak you climb reveals another one behind it
• Starting a business at uni and the gap he spotted between graduates and UK SMEs
• Holding onto faith at uni, and learning that you can’t do everything
• Discipline as a blessing, Proverbs, and the habits we build between 18 and 25
• What watching his mum’s resilience taught him about valleys
• The one peak he thinks is worth chasing above all others

Connect with Levi
Instagram: @levipike_
Email: [email protected]
Upshoot Collective: upshootcollective.com

Follow Chasing Peaks
Instagram: @chasingpeaksco

Chasing Peaks is a podcast about the peaks we chase in life, through adventure, fitness, faith, discipline, work and relationships. It’s about the climb as much as the summit.

Chapters00:00 Intro00:54 Who is Levi Pike?02:53 What Chasing Peaks means to Levi03:32 Climbing Mount Fuji06:59 Two months interrailing Europe10:10 Why every peak leads to another11:30 Starting a business at uni16:54 Keeping faith at uni18:48 You can’t do everything22:30 Regrets and hindsight25:16 The blessing of discipline32:07 Faith, ambition and Matthew 6:3336:17 Seeing God in nature40:04 Serving when you don’t feel worthy42:46 Biggest highs and lows47:42 Advice to his younger self52:59 His favourite peak: kindness55:54 Where to find Levi

Passages and resources mentioned:
📖 Matthew 6:33 · John 10:10 · Hebrews 12:11 · Proverbs (Levi’s tip: one chapter a day)

At 25, Sam Taylor owns Falmouth Fitness & Performance Gym (FPG), runs a dog behaviour business, and still opens the local newsagents at 6am. He's also a competitive bodybuilder and strongman.

A few years ago, he was sleeping in his car with his dog Stan, soaked through, running out of money and wondering if this was all life would be.

In this episode, Sam shares how three jobs landed on him at once, buying a gym at 23, why he believes you should never let your emotions control your actions, losing his mum at 16 and the question she kept asking, and how giving up control to God pulled him out of his hardest season.

His advice for anyone looking up at a mountain: don't focus on the summit. Just take the next step.

⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold open
00:33 Who is Sam Taylor?
02:37 From scared of dogs to a Master's in animal behaviour
06:48 Bodybuilding and strongman
09:22 Don't be controlled by your emotions
10:54 Buying a gym at 23
14:16 Living in his car with Stan the dog
19:03 Losing his mum
23:50 Getting out of the deepest valley
26:10 Advice to his younger self
29:33 Discipline and accountability
35:29 Why he still works at the newsagents
38:37 Identity: more than a bodybuilder
41:06 Where to find Sam
42:00 Ben’s ultra-running

🔗 FIND SAM
FPG (Falmouth Fitness & Performance Gym): https://www.instagram.com/fpgfalmouth
Sam & Stan's Animal Behaviour Service: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557878390601
Sam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samhentaylor11/
Sam's happy to chat if you're struggling with anything faith-related. Drop him a message.

🏔️ CHASING PEAKS
A podcast about the peaks we chase in life, through adventure, fitness, faith, discipline, work and relationships. It's about the climb as much as the summit.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingpeaksco
Hosted by Ben Perkins

⚠️ CONTENT NOTE
This episode includes discussion of bereavement, cancer, and a period when Sam had thoughts of suicide (from around 23:50). If you're struggling, don’t struggle along, you can call Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123 (UK & ROI) or visit samaritans.org.

#ChasingPeaks #Podcast #Strongman #Faith #Falmouth

Josh Bache hates running. So he does it every day.In this episode of Chasing Peaks, Josh and I talk about doing hard things on purpose, why he thinks discipline is overrated, and what the gym taught him about delayed gratification.Josh is a film graduate from Falmouth and a good friend of mine. Before uni he spent most of his time on video games. Now he's in the gym consistently, reading astrophysics before bed and starting his own business.We get into:- Why he picked the one thing he hates as a daily habit- What the gym taught him about delayed gratification- Habits and environment over raw discipline- Why he'd tell his younger self to fail harder and faster- How his faith shapes the way he chases his peaks- Why the journey matters more to him than the summitStick around after the sign-off. We kept the camera rolling, including the story of where the name Chasing Peaks came from.BOOKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED- The Courage to Be Disliked, Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga- Deep Work, Cal Newport- A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking- Atomic Habits, James Clear- The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel- Huberman Lab podcast with David GogginsFOLLOWChasing Peaks: www.instagram.com/chasingpeakscoJosh: www.instagram.com/josh_videographer/I'm early in this podcasting journey, so honest, brutal feedback is welcome. Tell me what worked and what didn't in the comments, and let me know who you'd like to hear on the podcast next.#chasingpeaks #personalgrowth #discipline

What if trying to control every part of your life is what's keeping it small?

John O'Brien joins Ben for the very first Chasing Peaks episode, sharing how he went from bouldering coach to geology graduate to running a surf coffee shop in Newquay, and why learning to slow down and let go of control changed how he approaches every peak.

We cover:

• Scrambling Crib Goch in Snowdonia and chasing clean waves at Rhossili and Chapel Porth
• Pushing at doors and letting them open (or close)
• The valley of control, and what trust looked like on the other side
• How faith reshapes the hard seasons
• Why hurry achieves nothing, and why slow is smooth and smooth is fast

About Johno
Johno has lived in Newquay, Cornwall for about five years and now runs Wave House cafe inside his church on the high street. He used to coach indoor bouldering in South Wales, studied geology at university in Cornwall, and worked in events management for CreationFest, Cornwalls biggest Christian music festival. He loves surfing and a big day in the mountains.

Find Johno

• Instagram: @johnmartinobrien_
• Wave House Cafe: https://wavehouse.org.uk/houses/wave-house-cafe/

Follow Chasing Peaks

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/chasingpeaksco/
• YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChasingPeaksCo
• Spotify:
• Ben Makes (Ben’s Jewelery and Blacksmithing Business): benperkinsmakes.com www.instagram.com/ben.makes

Verses mentioned: John 10:10, Psalm 46:10