In 2018, at 24 years of age, Luke Grenfell-Shaw was given a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and told he had months to live. Within weeks, he also lost his brother John in a freak accident. Most people would have pulled the covers up. Luke signed up for a half marathon, hopped on a stationary bike in the hospital ward, and started planning to cycle from Bristol to Beijing.

On 1 January 2020, Luke set off on a tandem bike. Over the next few years he rode 32,000 kilometres through 30 countries, with more than 800 different people taking a turn on the back seat. Some were strangers he met on the road. Some were friends and family. One was a puppy named Tarzan. The ride became the award-winning documentary A Life in Tandem, which you should watch immediately after listening to this episode.

In this episode we talk about:

- What it feels like to be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at 24

- Why Luke chose a tandem over a solo bike and what that decision changed

- The science behind exercise during chemotherapy and what the research now says

- Dev, the Indian man who turned up in jeans, hadn't ridden in three years, and became Luke's longest-serving stoker

- The brake failure at 50mph on a Kyrgyzstan mountain pass that ended in a medical clinic 

- Tarzan the puppy of Uzbekistan (fate: unknown but probably fine)

- The post-adventure blues, identity after big goals, and what it means to turn 32 when you once didn't expect to see it

- Luke's definition of a 'canliver' and why he prefers it to 'cancer survivor'

- What it means to be a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, and what comes next

Luke Grenfell-Shaw is a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, adventurer, filmmaker, and speaker. His documentary A Life in Tandem is available to stream now.

Links:

- A Life in Tandem documentary 

- Luke's website and Instagram

- Best Foot Forward short film (Luke and Dan in Sichuan): 

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Daragh Cronin is 40 days into his solo cycling expedition from Ireland to Everest Base Camp, and I sent him four questions via Instagram to find out how it's actually going.

He talks about the send-off from Cork that genuinely blew his mind, how it compared to the low-key departure for his West Africa ride, and why the first two weeks on the bike were so much harder than he expected. He gets into the reality of solo wildcamping for the first time, hitting big milestones across Europe, and a very special stop in Germany to see the man he cycled more than half of Africa with.Daragh's route to Everest Base Camp is also currently under a cloud with the war that's broken out in Iran putting his planned route through Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman into doubt. He doesn't have answers yet. Istanbul is where it gets real.

You can also watch the new Daragh YouTube video  on our Seek Travel Ride channel.

Here's the link to Daragh's Africa episode .

Follow Daragh via his instagram @roaminwithCronin for his latest updates. 

Donate to his fundraiser.

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Big thanks to Old Man Mountain for supporting this episode of Seek Travel Ride.

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Ever wanted to take a bike adventure through Scotland? This episode is for you!

Guest Sheelagh Daley shares her experiences cycling Scotland's Highlands and the Hebridean Way. This was a trip she planned specifically to challenge herself to wild camp and tackle off-road routes solo. She had ALL the weather, sunshine, rain and of course wind.

Find out about Scotland's Bothies, what it's like to wild camp solo, taking ferries between the islands on the Hebrides, and why Sheelagh says she could return to Scotland for all her bike adventures and be happy.

Be sure to follow Sheelagh to keep up with her adventures. here are links to her instagram - @sheelagh.daley and also her awesome YouTube channel.  

Links mentioned:

• Sheelagh's first STR episode
• The Hebridean Way
• Pictish Trail on bikepacking.com
• Log Drivers Waltz route episode with Jen

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This week, listeners Juan Pablo and Paula share a day from their cycling adventure in Mongolia which has to be one of the most remote and rewarding places you can ride a bike on this planet. You can keep up with their adventures via their instagram channel - @juan.pablo.toro

I also opens up about my own bikepacking bucket list, and throws the question out to you: where is the destination you're dreaming of? Where would you go if you could go anywhere?

Also mentioned this episode: A Life in Tandem — the incredible documentary following Luke Grenfell-Shaw, diagnosed with incurable cancer at 24, who set off to cycle 20,000 miles from Bristol to Beijing on a tandem bike. Watch it here. 

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Daragh Cronin booked a flight to Marrakesh before he even owned a bike. He had no cycling background, no camping experience, but he had a goal to ride the length of Africa from Morocco to Cape Town. 

Just over 200 days and 13,500 kilometres later, he arrived. In this episode, Irish adventurer Daragh talks through the mental and physical reality of cycling Africa's west coast: navigating borders, battling food poisoning, riding the notorious iron ore train in Mauritania, the strangers who became lifelong friends, and what it was like to finally arrive at the Cape of Good hope

This episode was recorded when Daragh was days away from his next challenge: cycling from Cork to Everest Base Camp to raise funds for the Children's Unit at Cork University Hospital. Be sure to follow him on instagram - @roaminwithcronin and you can check out his fundraiser here.

Other guests mentioned in this Episode:

Rob MacLennan

Tomas Mac An T-Saoir

Fergal Guihen

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What does it actually take to spend three months a year cycle touring through Europe? This week, Alison Fullerton shares how she and her husband make it happen every single year . She talks about the budgeting, the fitness worries, the accommodation, navigating trains with bikes, and the mindset that has turned their bike adventure dreams into a yearly reality.

The thing I love is that Alison and her husband are retirees and they are making this work for them, but her tips are relevant regardless of your age  

If you've been telling yourself a big cycling adventure isn't possible yet,  or isn't possible anymore, Alison's story might just change your mind.

Follow Alison on Instagram: @loose.spokes

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What happens when you strap skis to a loaded bike and set off to cycle 1,700 kilometres around Iceland in winter? Skier and filmmaker Cody Cirillo did exactly that on a trip he took with his good friend. What's more he also documented the whole experience in his film A Hundred Words for Wind.

Cody is a professional skier who's chased remote lines in Mongolia, Morocco, and Iceland. In recent years he's started cycling to his ski terrain instead of driving, something we have called ski bikepacking. Using human powered forms of travel has now completely changed how he experiences the places he travels through.

In this episode we cover:

- How ski bikepacking started — including his first trip from Telluride to Utah, off the couch, on a wobbly Walmart rack

- Iceland's Ring Road in winter : The brutal crosswinds, iced roads, blizzards, and dealing with it on 50kg loaded bikes

- Tips and tricks for surviving headwinds when skis add extra sail area?

- Breaking eight ribs, a scapula, and puncturing a lung weeks before departure  and why Cody went anyway

- The vinarbröð, hot dogs, Snickers, and tortellini that held the whole thing together

- What it feels like to park your bike roadside, hike for hours in ski boots, and ski a line down to the ocean

- How going slowly created the human connections that made the trip

- Turning a 40-day expedition into a film — and why that was harder than the riding

**Links:**

- Cody on YouTube and also Instagram - @Cody.Cir

- A Hundred Words for Wind — Cody's documentary

- Steph Devery's ski bikepacking episode

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Ever camped in bear country in Japan? Brian Sampson has. This is his second update from his mission to cycle every destination in 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

In this episode Brian shares stories from cycling through Japan, including encounters with bears and wild boars. He also shares his experiences exploring the Hiroshima Peace Museum.  From Japan Brian crossed into South Korea, where herides the famous Four Rivers trail and shares the buzz of cycling in the huge city of Seoul.

Brian is now heading into China. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss what happens next. You can follow his journey on Instagram at @brian.sampson4 and his blog.

If Japan or Korea are on your cycling bucket list, you might also love Terri Jockerst's book Biking to Busan, her nine-month solo ride through Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

And if you haven't seen it yet, come ride with me, Claire Wyatt and Marta Ballús in the Pyrenees over on the Seek Travel Ride YouTube channel. 

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What would it look like to tour a concert by bicycle?

Sarah Small is a viola da gamba player who did exactly that. Between May and July, she rode across the UK with her instrument on the bike, playing concerts in village halls, churches, community spaces, and remote locations. Along coastlines, across islands, as far north as the Hebridean Way and the Shetland Islands, bringing live music to places that rarely see it, under her own steam.

We talk about the logistics of carrying a fragile instrument by bike, the warmth and generosity Sarah encountered when she arrived having ridden to get there, and why taking music to people rather than the other way around changes something about the experience. We also get into sustainable travel, what cycle touring does to your sense of self, and that particular hit of confidence you didn't know you needed until a bike adventure handed it to you.

Sarah also shares her experience using low-impact transport options, including the SailLink ferry between the UK and France.

You can follow Sarah's future adventures via her instagram - @SmallSarah

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Imagine cycling from Glasgow to China for your honeymoon! Well that's exactly what guest Helen Watson did with her husband Ed, back in 2010. That extended honeymoon turned into a huge 15-month adventure across Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and into western China.

Helen gives us an insight into what it's like to use cycling as a way of moving slowly through cultures, and about what it feels like to experience places that are often reduced to headlines. She shares powerful stories of hospitality in Iran and Syria, including an experience which left her husband needing treatment in a Tehran hospital.

Helen has recently published a book about this journey, Tea and Grit: A Bicycle Journey Along the Silk Road

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Old Man Mountain
Big thanks to Old Man Mountain for supporting this episode of Seek Travel Ride.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Buy me a coffee!

I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:

👉  CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)

👉 Zorali 

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👉 Ombraz 

Follow us on Social Media!

• Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
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Leave me a voicemail message

Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music