The Bikes, The Kit and The Record

# The Trip 

Cycling around the world has been an all-time dream of David. He had been doing bikepacking trips since his 18th birthday and wanted to continue exploring. As for myself, I had read many books about such adventures but sadly thought this was not something I’d ever be able to do, because of my work and life priorities. When we met 5 years ago and David shared his desire to go for a long distance bikepacking trip around the world, we agreed to make it a reality. Luckily for David I fell in love with cycling immediately and when I started riding ultra-races, we knew going for a big trip together was feasible.

# The GWR Criteria

According to the Guinness World Record rules to cycle around the world one must make their journey continuous and in one direction (East to West or West to East), that the minimum distance ridden should be 18,000 miles (29,000 km), and that the total distance travelled by the bicycle and rider should exceed an Equator's length. The clock does not stop for any waiting time for transit flights or ferries.  

This is according to the GWR rules that we have planned our trip. Originally we had planned to leave in April and follow the standard route via the “stans” and Asia. What we did not like was the lack of time in Africa and South America. So we changed the route to include them. When COVID happened, we extended the route in areas where the trip seemed still possible, and decided to move our departure to September. Importantly we discovered that Bostwana is antipodal to Hawaï, making it a great alternative to the usual UK v New Zealand route. For now our plan is to go from Whitehorse to Texas. From there, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina. Then Africa from Cape Town to Nairobi going via Rwanda and Uganda. Then India or possibly another Asian country and Australia and New Zealand, before going back to Europe.

At this point nothing is fixed and it is for now impossible to complete the challenge. So we will just ride as much as we can and as far as we can for 6 months. We have only 6 months to complete this because we both have taken time off our work as NHS orthopaedics registrar for David and Project Manager in Investment Banking for me. We are committed to go back to work in April. In addition, we have a mortgage and are doing work in our house while we are away so we do need to come back and start earning again! 

The preparation for this trip has been stressful as we had our full time jobs and a house planning and moving to do. The pandemic and uncertainties added to the stress. One of our biggest concern is the cold in Canada. We have planned to camp for the trip, and bought a tent for extra comfort, but this won’t match the cold up north. So if we cannot find hotels or warm places to sleep, we will have to learn to live and ride and sleep in the cold for a week or so. 

Yet, despite the stress and fears, here we are: ready to get going! We are excited to be able to help raise money for Bart’s Charity which supports the NHS health trust in East London. We have seen first-hand the tremendous work they have done during the pandemic and continue to do, and we hope we can play a part though the donations we will receive. Link to our JustGiving page: [https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caroline-and-david](https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/caroline-and-david)

Thank you very much! Wish us favourable winds and safe riding!

# The Bikes

![IMG 5981 jpg](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/6XP5Ch0dPDpMSDxNLzx9A7/c2fdcc5e5b4a00e588ddf695cbc20445/IMG_5981_jpg.JPG)

![IMG 5978](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/2w86TviHOvXMAPaPeObvfz/67e9a0f30ea7114a76d010953a24a0ac/IMG_5978.JPG)

Bikes: Wilier Triestina Jena: Wilier is our sponsor and lent us 2 bikes for the trip. Jena are carbon bikes but can accommodate bigger tyres and panniers.

Groupset: Ultegra Shimano Mechanical compact 34-34 groupset, Hydrolic Disc Brakes and SPD pedals. Caroline has a shorter 170cm crank. David added a plastic frame on one side of his pedals to allow him to ride them with normal shoes if needed (bought on Amazon).

Ortlieb bags and racks: Two front fork bags, 1 handlebar bag + accessory bag (for Caroline), 1 frame bag, 1 top tube bag, two rear gravel pannier bags mounted on Ortlieb rack. Caroline also has a front rack mounted by the great bike mechanics at Paradise Cycle in East London which helps clear space on her handlebar by providing a platform for her front light. Bits and bobs such as tools, washing stuff and pharmacy are packed in little IKEA food zipped plastic bags.

Lights: Exposure Dynamo front and back lights.

Wheels: Strada hand built aluminium with Son 28 dynamo and DT Swiss RR481 hubs. My wheels have 24 spokes with x2 cross lacing, and David’s have 28 with triple lacing as he is heavier! Tyres are Continental 4 seasons 28-700cc.

# What's in the packs?

WASHBAG:  

·       Toothbrush 
·       Barsoap (doubles up as shampoo and cloth wash)
·       Toothpaste (shared)
·       Suncream (shared)
·       Ialuset cream (great for irritated skin!)
·       Deodorant (shared)
·       Tweezers (shared)
·       Nail clipper (shared)
·       Razor (Caroline’s)
·       Hairbrush (Caroline’s)
·       Contact lenses
·       4 hair bands
·       2 lip balms
·       Face cloth 
·       Microfiber towel 
·       Menstrual cup (Caroline’s, obviously)

SLEEP

·       Sleeping bag (Yeti Fever Zero for Caroline and The North Face Cat's Meow Sleeping Bag for David)
·       Silk liner (Caroline’s)
·       Emergency insulation bivy (David’s)
·       Insulated inflatable sleeping mats (Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite extra long)
·       Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL3 Bikepack Tent

EXTRAS

·       Ultralight foldable backpack (Caroline’s) 
·       String bag (David’s)
·       Head mosquito net (Caroline’s)
·       2 Titanium mugs
·       Earplugs  (Caroline’s)
·       Eyemask  (Caroline’s)
·       2 elastic ropes
·       Lighter (shared)
·       String (shared)
·       Ortlieb bits (plastic/screws)
·       Headtorch (Exposure)
PHARMACY (shared)

·       Plasters 
·       Wound cleaning wipes
·       Paracetamol/Ibuprofen
·       Eye drops 
·       Antiseptic cream
·       Water purification pills 
ELECTRONICS 

·       2 powerbanks
·       2 Sinewave Cycles Revolution dynamo powered USB chargers
·       1 Mavic Air 2 drone with 2 batteries and charging cable 
·       1 GoPro with 2 batteries and charging bank with USBC cable + 1 Prostandard mount 
·       1 ZV1 camera with 2 batteries and charging bank + usb cable 
·       1 Garmin 1030+ with additional battery and usb cable 
·       1 MacBook Pro + charging cable
·       1 international adapter 
·       1 multiplug adapter
·       2 iPhones + 2 iPhone cables (Caroline also took her work iPhone as a backup and to keep aware of what’s happening at work!)
·       2 sets of headphones 
·       1 GPS Tracker (SPOT trace) + 4 AAA spares lithium batteries
BIKE TOOLS & BITS (same for both)

·       1 extra tyre (each)
·       1 rear mech hanger (each)
·       1 gear cable
·       1 tyre boot (each)
·       3 inner tubes (each)
·       1 chain link (each)
·       1 probiketool pump
·       1 puncture repair kit (each)
·       1 Opinel adventure knife 
·       1 Stanley tool (incl pliers)
·       1 probiketool multitool (incl chain breaker)
·       3 spokes (each)
·       1 set of SPD cleats
·       1 spoke repair cable 
·       1 small bottle of wet lube 
·       1 dirty cloth 
·       Extra cable ties 
·       Electrical tape
·       Tape/Patches to fix sleeping mat 
·       5 bottles (2 1L for David, 2 800cl and 1 600cl for Caroline)
CLOTHS & ACCESSORIES (same for both)

·       1 DHB merino neck buff (each)
·       1 DHB merino arm warmers (each)
·       2 Milltag jerseys (each)
·       2 Milltag shorts (1 Milltag shorts and 1 Universal Colours bibs for David)
·       1 Milltag gilet (each)
·       1 Long sleeve baselayer 
·       1 Damar short sleeve thermal tank top used as baselayer (Caroline’s)
·       1 short sleeve baselayer (David’s)
·       1 Pella rain jacket (each)
·       1 Universal Colour fleece (The North Face for David)
·       1 Patagonia puff jacket with hood (Uniqlo for David)
·       1 pair of leggings (sweatpants for David)
·       1 pair of shorts (each)
·       3 pairs of socks (incl one thick winter ones)
·       1 t-shirt 
·       1 long sleeve t-shirt (Caroline’s)
·       1 pair of sneakers (David’s)
·       1 pair of slides (Caroline’s)
·       1 pair of SPD Gravel shoes Northwave Rockster (each)
·       1 pair of gloves (Spatz for Caroline, DHB for David)
·       1 Band of Climbers bubble hat (Caroline’s)
·       1 pair of prescription sunglasses SunGod (each)
·       1 pair of cycling sunglasses SunGod (photochromic for Caroline)
·       1 pair of prescription glasses (each)
·       1 Met Helmet (Trenta and Vinci)
 WINTER KIT (to send back post Canada)

·       1 pair of overshoes (Spatz for Caroline, DHB for David)
·       1 DHB pair of line merino gloves (each)
·       1 Universal Colours long winter bibshorts (Caroline’s)
·       1 GribGrab pilot hat (each)
·       1 reusable handwarmer (each)

# __Kit split__

We each carry our own kit. For the bits that are heavy and shared we did the following:

Caroline carries the drone, batteries, GPS tracker + Garmin + tent 
David the laptop and charger + pump and Stanley tool and knife + adapters + pharmacy
GoPro + camera (will be carried by either depending of times)

Caroline Soubayroux and David Ferguson attempt to set the first pairs Guiness World Record for Fastest Circumnavigation by Bicycle.

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Caroline & David Cycle The World

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