hi all
Hi Tom,
Everything is possible if you prepare yourself and make sure you know what you need to do and how to go about it. In my opinion you should build your distance up gradually and do some training before you think about trying to get around the world, as you don't want to be causing yourself an injury.
Setting targets like how far to do each day and things like that can also help, just make sure you don't feel as though you can't do it, as I'm sure if you put the time in to prepare that you will :-).
Good Luck!
Katie
What are you going to do for money and accommodation?
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/prepaidcards/?feature=PrePaid&cardtype=CreditCard
And hostelbookers and hostelworld. You might also want to check out:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/
You can buy much of the stuff you need as you travel so don't take too much. Check on inoculations and pills needed. Your local chemist can help.
You need to get yourself physically in shape knowing that at times you will be at high altitudes or maybe going up hill for miles. You need a route map and some idea of how many miles you plan to do a day. What may be easy at the start can be drudgery after a few weeks.
Important is checking on the weather. While you do not want to cycle in temperatures of over 40.C (in deserts you can lose water very quickly), then again you don't want five feet deep snow either, or months of torrential rain.
How are you going to get your bicycle between continents?
You will need visas for a number of the countries you plan to visit.
You might even try sponsorship for the charity of your choice.
As to spelling, try Firefox browser which has a spell check which red underlines words spelled wrong, at least according to the American language.
[ Removed what looked like an affiliate id. Link functions fine without it. ]
Tom, since you have no adult experience on a bicycle - let alone cycling long distances - your best move by far right now is to do a short 3 - 4 week trip first.
My guess: You'll drop the plan of cycling around the world.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Terry
The only way to train for long distances is to actually DO long distances in training.
You will be traversing large areas of wilderness and need to prepare accordingly. I would look for Blogs from other folks who have done this type of trip (there are lots of them). The blogs should give you tips on the type of bike and other equipment you will need.
A course on bike maintenance will help you can deal with the many problems you will have along the way. You can probably get help from your favourite bike shop to find a course or have them train you... as an apprentice maybe??? They will be able to guide you on the inventory of spare parts and tools that you will need to carry with you on your trip.
You will also need a wilderness first aid course as spills and other incidents are inevitable on your trip.
You should contact the Russian and Chinese Embassy's regarding visa requirements for such a journey at the early planning stage. You normally have to register with authorities and document your movements in Russia. Not sure how this is done if you are travelling independently.
Good luck!
Thanks for all the positive replies, much appreciated!
How long do you think i will need to train for a trip this big and do you think it would be too tiring to carry a backpack for this long or would it be advisable to have racks or panniers?
Russia! Are there usable roads across the whole of Russia to china. would it be cheating using the tran siberian rail?
Also a question about taking container ships, is there routes from Australia to south America and from New York to UK?
Thanks again for all the positive replies!
cheers
TOM
Backpack?
Absolutely not! Messes your balance if load shift during emergency manouvers. Panniers front and back plus a trailer for your mountain bike may be needed to carry all your gear.
Shipping Bikes?
Shipping bikes is not a problem. Once you are a trained bike mechanic, you can take it down for easy shipping via planes, trains, or automobiles.
Re. Train = Cheating?
Your trip, your rules. But I suspect you will be cheating yourself if you travel 1000's of kilometres by train.
Crossing from Russia to China?
There seems to be a few options on google maps. You can cross into Mongolia and then China by going south from Ulan-Ude in Russia (East of Lake Baikal). It is linked by road to Ulaanbaatar then to Beijing. The problem is that this route will take you through the Gobi desert -> research re. conditions and water supply. It is alway hard to tell if roads are dirt or tarmack
The crossing south of Novosirsk would mean travel in the Altai region -> going up several big mountains... And you would miss Lake Baikal. This lake contains 20% of the world's fresh water supplies!
Going into Kazakhstan maybe an option. Go south from Chelyabinsk, Russia. I don't have a clue what security is like in Kazakhstan... more Research!
Seems like no matter which route you take in this part of the world, there will be mountains and deserts... Don't run out of water!
There's been a few long distance cyclists who have blogged on Travellerspoint. Here's one that might be of interest - they cycled from South Africa to the UK -
I wouldn't be overly concerned about fitness. Just ensure that the first few weeks are in relatively easy conditions. You will build your fitness up over that time before hitting really big mountains or deserts. Logistics, weather, etc.. clearly do need planning though.
As long as you have money to bail out at any time, you can always just hop on a train and head back home.
In terms of costs, cycling is really a cheap way of travelling around, so even modest savings will carry you a long way. Don't stay in hostels / hotels, etc. You just need a tent and a sleeping bag. A trailer is optional in my opinion. My dad did big cycling trips around Europe, Australia and South America when he was younger and never had that. For a little extra comfort it might be nice, but certainly not a given.
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