In just six weeks I leave for Morocco to try and break the World Record for rowing the mid-Atlantic in a team of six, lead by Matt Craughwell.  That does not seem far away at all!  It seems like yesterday that I returned from the Arctic!  The website for the Atlantic expedition is now live at www.atlantic-odyssey.com and you can watch the new documentary ‘Rowing the Arctic’ on BBC1 Scotland at 8.30pm.

This month has also seen the launch of the World Cycle Challenge.  With sell out events in Edinburgh, Birmingham and London, the dream of organising the first ever fully supported round the world cycle is now becoming a reality.  Spaces for this 18,000 mile, 9 month cycle, starting September 2012 are being filled fast – its wonderful to see enthusiasm from so many people being converted into their commitment to make this happen.

It is worth saying that the World Cycle Challenge is not related to the Global Bicycle Race which sets out in February and is organised by Vin Cox, the current World Record holder for the fastest circumnavigation by bicycle.  Vins event is unsupported and a head to head race, whilst the World Cycle Challenge is an around the world cycling tour.

I know Vin and quite a few of the racers in his event and think it is fantastic – another great way to encourage people to cycle around the world.  Good luck to everyone  involved in the Global Bicycle Race – especially Kyle Hewitt who is planning to bring the World Record back to Scotland!  You can follow Kyle at www.inspiredtoinspire.org.uk

Truth be told, this was a big step up in terms of my filmmaking.  Commissioned as a BBC2 Scotland HD documentary, the HD (high definition) part brought a level of technical know-how that was far trickier than filming on my previous series ‘The Man who Cycled the Americas’ and ‘The Man who Cycled the World’.  And then there was the dynamics of filming a team if six men on a tiny 9 metre rowing boat in the icy waters of the Canadian Arctic.  Such confines are a very pressurised environment for any team to live, so to introduce cameras to every situation takes diplomacy and patience by all, especially when exhausted, sleep deprived, hungry and things aren’t going well – for example when stuck in a shifting ice field!

Throughout late August we rowed our way north from Resolute Bay with 24 hours daylight, often getting stuck ashore on the archipelago of islands we were navigating due to ice fields, winds and the fog.  Periods of exhaustion, and at other times of frustration at being weather bound, were tempered with the stunning beauty of our surroundings – however we were always conscious of how far we were from rescue.  If we got ourselves into trouble, we would have to get ourselves out it.

Rowing the Arctic was a tenacious dream of Jock Wishart and it was a real privilege to be onboard to share this as crew and cameraman.  I will write again soon with more reflections on the expedition.

Photos courtesy of Christopher Sleight www.christophersleight.com

Click on the headphones to listen to Mark's interview

Starting July 9th, I will be joining a team to cycle, row and hike continuously from Dublin, Ireland to the top of Snowdon, Wales. 150 miles by land and sea in less than 36 hours!

This unique challenge is raising funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society and is supported by DMA Europa, Reflection Creative Media, Tribesports, Chas Bedford Consulting, Factory Gym’s and Spinlock.

Undoubtedly one of the toughest amateur challenges in the British Isles in 2011, I am expecting the sleep deprivation and ultra endurance to be the perfect test for my mental and physical condition, just a few weeks before my next expedition begins.

45 mile cycle - 90 mile row - 15 mile hike

The Trip to Remember will start with our team of 14 amateur athletes cycling 45 miles from Dublin Harbour to Arklow.  Then we will change wheels for oars and set out on the 90 mile crossing to Porthmadog in Wales, rowing in 2 hour shift across the infamously windy and rough Irish Sea.  Lastly, the 15 mile hike up Snowdon Peak (1085m) will be the final leg of the gruelling challenge.

To show your support for the team please do sponsor

www.justgiving.com/TheTripToRemember

Follow @TripToRemember on twitter or on Facebook

The best way way to follow my progress is my twitter feed @MrMarkBeaumont

To find out more about the challenge go to www.thetriptoremember.co.uk

For Press enquiries about this challenge please contact me here

Some of the team and one of the surf boats during a recent training session

Arriving in Paris after 265 miles!

My warmest congratulations to the riders and support team who took part in last weekends London to Paris in 24 hours challenge.  I thought it would be tough and it really was!  Writing this, it’s tempting to throw around a load of superlatives – but its best to simply say that by anyone’s standards, whether you are a top pro or a real punter, cycling 265 miles in a day is absolutely huge. Chapeau!

The group of 12 cyclists (including myself) set out from a very wet Marbe Arch at 3.15pm on Friday.  Leaving London went fairly well, despite some heavy traffic.  Then, just as we headed into the Kent countryside and picked up the tempo, 3 puncture stops in an hour put us well behind schedule. The race was now really on to get the ferry – the last crossing of the day!  After some blistering miles and a slog up the big hill outside Folkstone, we raced down to the coast – leg 1 over with 81 miles completed.

On the ferry everyone ate, some tried to sleep, and there was definitely a change of mood. The elation of having reached the ferry in time now turned to slight trepidation of the night riding that lay ahead.

Within minutes of rolling off the car deck, lights on, riding in a tight peloton, we had a puncture. After this false start we soon left the comfort of street lights and headed into the very hilly coastal countrywide south of Calais.  A keen wind blew in from the channel on our right and everyone fell very quite, lost in his own thoughts for a few hours.

By about 3am it was clear to everyone that the dream of finishing in 24 hours was starting to slip away – a few riders were especially hurting. Whilst everyone had agreed to ride together, no- matter what, when it came to this situation of such an obvious split in the group, I decided it best to change the plan.

And so a group of nine soon headed off with renewed speed after I offered to stay back and ride on with the other two. The next four hours were really tough.  Our speed dropped even further and then a rainstorm came in that left us very cold and a bit dejected. We weren’t riding fast enough to keep warm.  By the time we reached the town of Abbeville we had ridden through dawn and it was thankfully dry, but the guys who I was riding with decided that they couldn’t go any further. We had covered 169 miles and managed to push through the toughest hours of darkness.

The main peloton of 9 riders were now well over an hour down the road and I had the unexpected situation of having the final 100 miles to ride alone. After waiting for the support van to come back and pick up the guys and taking some more warm clothes, I set out.

It was now 50 miles to Beavais and then another 50 miles to the Arc de Triomphe. I set out to try and make up time. The first 25 miles went fine, but then the big hills before Beauvais left me really hurting. I was in a pretty dark mood and feeling saddle sore as I arrived.

After a quick stop and armed with a new road map and a meal from the ‘boulangerie’, I set out for Paris.  The hills persisted, but the weather cleared, leaving me overheating in my full cold weather and wet gear!

At 4.15pm (exactly 24 hours after leaving the Marble Arch), I crested a hill by Pointoise and caught sight of the Paris’s cityscape, silhouetted on the horizon, about 25km away. What a buzz, coasting downhill into the suburbs of the capital. I hadn’t made it, but hoped the team was already there, celebrating.

The Team arriving at the Arc de Triomphe

Unlike three years ago when I enjoyed a traffic dodging and sure-routed police escort into Paris, at the end of my world cycle, I now had the joys of many miles of stop-start traffic lights and roundabouts, until I made it within the ‘Périphérique’ (Paris’s central ring road) and promptly got lost for over half an hour trying to find the Arc de Triomphe!  Not exactly what I needed after a full days riding my bike!

Finally pedalling around the Arc and across the pedestrian crossing at the Rue de Wagram (the start/finish point of the world cycle) was then manically busy, but a wonderful end point to a very tough ride.

The main team had finished in 23 hours 43 minutes – just 17 minutes within the target! I rolled into the finish in 25 hours and 25 minutes.

So far, an amazing £8000 has been raised for Maggie’s Cancer Centres – many thanks for all those who supported the challenge.  http://www.justgiving.com/ldcarchtoarc/

If you would like to read the ‘Race Report’ from the others in the team click here… http://bit.ly/izZzQb

You can see details of our route in my previous blog.

Thanks for all your tweets, facebook messages and emails of support for this challenge!

And my advise to you… if you want to cycle London to Paris, take three days and enjoy the views!

One of the toughest days of my life!

Over 24 hours, during June 10th/11th,I will be joining a group of keen cyclists, mainly from LDC (www.ldc.co.uk), to cycle the 265 miles from the Marble Arch (London) to the Arc de Triomphe (Paris).

The ‘Arch to Arc’ Challenge is a famous route, but more often cycled in three days, not one!  The team of twelve, including many of the cyclist who I joined for a section of their Land’s End to John O’Groats last year, are all raising money for the great work of Maggie’s Cancer Centres.

The plan is to start from Marble Arch at 3pm on Friday 10th June, cycle to Dover, catch a ferry, then cycle through the night and day to Paris. Hopefully we will arrive at the Arc de Triomphe before 4pm local time on Saturday, with enough energy left to enjoy a cold beer on the Champs-Elysées!  Before anyone asks, we will be returning to London by train!  If cycling 265 miles in 24 hours wasn’t enough, keep in mind that this is also a pretty hilly route, which will push all of the riders to their physical and mental limits.  There may well be tears!

So this is a great chance to sponsor one of my challenges for a fantastic cause – Maggie’s Cancer Centres.

The link to our team fundraising page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/ldcarchtoarc/

The team’s progress can be tracked here: http://bit.ly/izZzQb

The best way way to follow my progress is my twitter feed @MrMarkBeaumont

Thanks for any support you can give.

Click here for the press release about the Arch to Arc Challenge

Click on the maps to see more detail of the route form London to Dover and Calais to Paris

London to Dover

Calais to Paris

At the same time as writing, I have been building up my training again.  Plans for another BBC expedition in 2011 are well under way but as yet are under wraps.  Rest assured, I will let you know as soon as I can and am sure this one will surprise you – and certainly test me like never before.

As for this website, it is in need of some attention!  It been so madly busy that I haven’t been on top of updates here until now.  However, people seem to have no problem finding the contact page!  I love getting feedback on the book and documentaries, and get great pleasure from helping people out if I can, but its getting to a level that I can’t keep up with replies!  I am planning to put online a frequently asked questions resource which can help with things like kit lists, basic training advice, how to get a start in cycling and expeditions and these kind of things.  I am certainly very grateful for all the top support, so thanks for that.

The best way to keep up with my events and news is through the Twitter and Facebook feed.

There have been a number of really great fun events recently, which I will write about soon, but for now, keep well, thanks for checking in and speak again soon.

Despite spending less than a fortnight in my own bed, it has been a brilliant year, with the BBC1 series ‘The Man who Cycled the Americas’ receiving a very warm reception. The main criticism seems to have been that they were too short – which I fully acknowledge. I also wish there was more screen time to share the full expedition.

Thanks to over 10,000 people who have come to my events since mid March. It has been brilliant to meet so many people who have watched the docs, read the book and followed online.

Despite the demand and opportunity, I have decided not to extent the talk tour later in the year, as I plan to focus properly on writing my second book. However, I will be at a number of events so keep watching this blog and my twitter page for information if you would like to come along.

I have heard that the transmission dates of the BBC1 documentary series about this expedition have changed from when I wrote my last blog – they will now be on Tuesdays, the 23rd & 30th March then the 6th April.