The Man Who Cycled the World

[C-3PO]

How confusing. We've got two threads about this in the same board. The man who cycled the world

Topics merged.  I'm afraid that some of the replies will look out of context now.

[Nick H.]

Pah! Bet I could do the same thing, carring the same gadgets, without any panniers or racks.

[tiermat]

And living offa raisins and nuts?

Seriously I can understand the need for the 4 panniers, although I do suspect that some of it was due to extra bits required for him to carry to make the documentary....

[Nick H.]

How confusing. We've got two threads about this in the same board. The man who cycled the world

Topics merged.  I'm afraid that some of the replies will look out of context now.

Well done 3P0! You managed to do it without making any of us feel stupid. How nice to have a polished poltroon as a mod. 

[Nick H.]

And living offa raisins and nuts?

Seriously I can understand the need for the 4 panniers, although I do suspect that some of it was due to extra bits required for him to carry to make the documentary....

I would love to pour scorn on his packing list.   

He had a tiny camcorder and a compact digital camera (I think).  Both would have had chargers and spare batteries (probably.) But they could have been combined for starters.

And he had a weird robust satellite position-reporting thingy normally used by sailors. Probably because he was sponsored to take it - it's not a Guinness requirement. A tiny GPS with a track log would be more than enough to satisfy them. The rules say you can get away just with photos and a log book for  witnesses signatures.

[peterh]

A late heads up!  Looks like it's being repeated - part 1 is on BBC1 tonight at 10:35

[Frenchie]

Press the red button when the Orange add is on...

[Rob S]

2) how much gear was he carrying! What with four humongous panniers maybe he really did need 24 burgers a day after all. And those butterfly bars can't have helped.  I mean, it's supposed to be a SPEED record. Why do it on an overloaded donkey?

I watched the programme tonight for the first time and what struck me most...besides him having the same cap as me ... was that his luggage looked so small!!

[Greenbank]

"Doing 100 miles a day, for 7 months, is unheard of."

Except that it isn't.

Guess they didn't find the story of Tommy Godwin when they were doing their research.

He managed a meager average of 205 miles a day for a year (actually he carried on after doing 75065 miles in one year to pass the 100,000 mile mark after just 500 days). This was in 1939/1940 on a bike weighing 14kg.

[Greenbank]

Didn't see it first time round so I've got to remember to pick this up on iPlayer for the next few weeks.

Watched Ep 1 (to Istanbul) last night and enjoyed it, despite the previously mentioned annoying repetition by the narrator.

It's spoilt slightly by the fact that I know that he did it which, like Long Way Round/Down, means I'm not getting drawn into it as much as I could.

[nuttycyclist]

I'm glad I caught that last night as episode 1 was the only one I missed on iPlayer last time it was on.

More importantly Mrs Nutty watched it, enjoyed it, and we're making a point to try to watch episode 2 tonight.

[Greenbank]

episode 2 tonight.

Aha. Thank you. I hadn't realised they were on consecutive days. That works even better!

[Flying_Monkey]

It's good to see a programme like this and it was an amazing achievement, but is it just me or does no-one one else think that he doesn't come across as a very interesting person? I guess that's why the narration is so over-hyped...

[Gattopardo]

Is it torrented as I'd like to see all the episode in a few sittings as possible.

[Chris S]

Is it torrented as I'd like to see all the episode in a few sittings as possible.

A quick search on piratebay.org yields a few results

[domesticated ape]

I saw the first episode last night on TV (how old-fashioned!). I remember reading the newspaper reports about the record a couple of months ago when it was first completed, but I really didn't get just how hard the ride was until watching the programme!

I thought his luggage looked pretty minimal too, considering the distance. I reckon I had more luggage than that for one night's camping in Surrey!

[Greenbank]

Just watched Ep 2 on iPlayer and about to watch Ep 3 on BBC1.

[JT]

It's good to see a programme like this and it was an amazing achievement, but is it just me or does no-one one else think that he doesn't come across as a very interesting person? I guess that's why the narration is so over-hyped...

He comes across as a nice chap and is quite laid back about the mishaps and illness he suffers. It's possible that if he had a film crew with him all the time that the producer would be milking certain situations. As it is he just gets on with it.

It's a far cry from those Ewan/Charlie efforts where they start crying/swearing at the drop of a hat.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Am I just imagining it or has he got rid of a Rohloff in favour of a derailleur?

[JT]

Am I just imagining it or has he got rid of a Rohloff in favour of a derailleur?

I've watched the first 2 episodes and I think you're imagining it. I think they would have made some fuss about that given he would need a new chainset and gear levers and a new back wheel.

I was surprised at how many spokes he kept pinging - could that really have been down to the shortening of the spoke lengths to accommodate the Rohloff?

[delthebike]

Am I just imagining it or has he got rid of a Rohloff in favour of a derailleur?

What your seeing as a derailleur is just a chain tensioner as the frame doesn't use slotted drop outs.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Ah, thanks Del.

[andyoxon]

I'm enjoying the series...  I'm not sure the spider needed to be bashed to a pulp for climbing on his pannier...

[Malandro]

I'm enjoying the series...  I'm not sure the spider needed to be bashed to a pulp for climbing on his pannier...

I've seen animal rights activists with arachnophobia make exceptions for spiders....

[Sergeant Pluck]

Good, huh? 

They squeezed rather a lot of miles into that last episode but no matter. Great stuff. Well done to him.

I was impressed by the range of hand positions he could get with those bars - plus a sort of tri-bar effect.

Did anyone else think he had a very bouncy riding style: his upper bidy tended to move up and down a lot especially in the lower gears, rather than a smooth pedalling style?

He comes across as a nice chap and is quite laid back about the mishaps and illness he suffers. It's possible that if he had a film crew with him all the time that the producer would be milking certain situations. As it is he just gets on with it.

Agreed.