In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, we talk with 26-year-old Claire Wyatt, who is currently cycling 16,000km around Australia. Claire is passionate about solo bicycle touring and sharing stories of kindness from around the world. She tells us about her big adventure in Australia, her passion for cycle touring over the past four years, and her early years growing up as one of five children.
After studying criminology at Loughborough University, Claire moved to Cambodia to work for a travel company. It was there that she got into cycling in her 20s and eventually went on her first cycle tour around Cambodia for three weeks. She tells us about the lessons she learned on that trip and how it inspired her to continue exploring the world on two wheels.
Claire also shares with us the challenges of cycle touring, from budgeting to communication and staying safe on the road. She tells us about the magical moments she’s experienced while out on the road and the kindness of strangers she’s encountered along the way.
Throughout the episode, Claire provides practical advice for women who want to travel by bike, including how to plan a trip, what equipment to invest in, and how to communicate with locals. She also shares the story of how she was inspired by Dervla Murphy, an Irish travel writer who cycled from Ireland to India in the 1960s.
If you’re interested in following Claire’s journey, you can check out her blog and follow her on Instagram at @exploringbybicycle. And don’t forget to hit the subscribe button for new episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast every Tuesday at 7am UK time. You can also support the mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media by visiting www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast (http://www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast) . Thank you for listening!
***
Show notes
• 26 years old
• Travelling by bike
• Her big adventure in Australia
• Her passion for cycle touring over the past 4 years
• Her early years growing up and being 1 of 5 children
• Getting into cycling in her 20s after university
• Having a twin sister
• Studying criminology at Loughborough University
• Moving to Cambodia to work for a travel company
• Her decision making process
• Taking redundancy
• Going on her first cycle tour around Cambodia for 3 weeks
• Figuring it out on the first trip
• The magic letter and how it helped her communicate with local people
• Staying with local family and cheap guest houses
• Heading home during COVID
• Setting up a small project called Mind over Miles (https://www.instagram.com/mindovermiles.uk/?hl=en-gb)
• Cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats (LEJOG) to raise funds for the Adventure Therapy Charity (https://adventuretherapy.org.uk/)
• The lessons from cycling LEJOG and why it was a good experience
• The bike – Surly Ogre (https://surlybikes.com/bikes/ogre)
• Investing in new equipment
• Power while on the road
• Carrying her laptop and working while on the road
• Money and budget while on the road
• Cycling 16,000km around Australia
• Starting in Tasmania and ending in Perth
• Planning to cycle from Cambodia back to the UK
• The challenges of cycle touring
• Magical moments while out on the road
• Using Warmshowers (https://www.warmshowers.org/) for accommodation
• The kindness of strangers
• The Great Queensland Rail Adventure (https://www.briztreadley.com/the-great-queensland/)
• Learning mechanics for the bike
• Communicating with family and using a Zoleo (https://www.zoleo.com/en-gb)
• Communicating via radio (Channel 40 in Australia) with the truck drivers
• Advice for women who want to travel by bike
• Being inspired by Dervla Murphy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervla_Murphy)
• Book: Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy (https://amzn.to/43FabiH)
• How to connect with Claire
• Her blog
Social Media
Blog: https://wanderingwyatt135121267.wordpress.com/
Instagram: @exploringbybicycle (https://www.instagram.com/exploringbybicycle/)
Hello and welcome to the three-time award-winning tough girl podcast which is all about motivating and inspiring you while increasing the amount of female role models in the media I’m your host Sarah Williams if you love Adventure Challenge and hearing from women who share their stories and
Provide top tips and advice to help you take on your own personal challenges make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out new episodes go live every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. UK time with occasional bonus episodes going live on a Thursday you can support the
Tough girl Mission by signing up as a patron by visiting patreon p a o n.com tgir podcast keep listening until the very end as I share more information about what’s going on with me with tough girl challenges give shout outs to members of the tribe and recommend other
Tough girl podcast episodes plus find out about future guests more information is available at tough girl challenges.com So my name is CLA Wyatt I’m 26 years old and um I travel by bike so I’m currently sitting um in a house sit in Australia and and I’ve just cycled 5,000 kilometers out of my 16,000 K so I’m on a big adventure as we speak um I’m from
England I’m always been passionate about getting outdoors and yeah cycling has become cycle touring especially has become a big Um passion of mine in the last four years oh I love it you know I I spend quite a bit of time in Australia and so I really struggle to place
Accents now cuz as you were talking I was thinking hold on is that a British accent or is that an Australian accent I can’t I don’t like I just can’t place it anymore so whereabouts in England did you grow up so I grew up near Cambridge
So S6 way nice and were you quite sporty you know were you riding a bike from a young age yeah so I I spoke to Mom about this the other day I was like what what was my first bite but I’m I’m one of five kids so she was like you definitely
Had a a hand me down from one of the others so but no we were always playing outside together and um we would make fight ramps out out on the lane outside of the house and we were always playing Outdoors so but cycling only really seriously came into my life in my 20s
Really what were you the baby of the family yes so I’ve got a twin sister so me and my twin were the babies out of the five oh my God was it one of those ones we just have one more baby and then you got twins exactly yeah they want
They wanted four and got five so big family but it’s been so much fun growing up and we’re all pretty adventurous so we all pushed each other too far at times so how did you get into cycling in your 20s wow it was after University so I went to lafra University to study
Criminology and uh basically graduated was just about to join the police and uh also sent off my SE to a couple of dream jobs in Asia in the travel industry just kind of thinking oh they will never email me back and uh and one did and I
And I got out and I moved out to Cambodia for a job out there and basically after a year um I worked when I first got there worked for a travel company but after a year I moved on and I I found this brilliant cycling company
And I started working for them and it all just started from there we we basically um ran day tours around Anor in Cambodia so take tourists around the temples and basically I just I started riding with um when I started that job and and I haven’t looked back that’s a
Real sliding doors moment isn’t it like on one hand stay in the UK join the police very traditional very save on the other hand move to Cambodia get a dream job in the in the in the travel industry like how did you make that decision you know especially for people who maybe
They’ve got these difficult decisions and they’re not quite sure which is the right way to go you know what was your thought process what was your decision- making process I must have been 2021 when I had to make the decision and I just knew deep down I wanted to to do
Something different I’ve always kind of wanted to push the boundaries and I just kind of went you know what this is an opportunity and it might not work out and I might be home in a month but why not just say yes and and give it a go
Like nothing is you know nothing’s permanent I if I don’t like it I can have come home but I don’t want to regret turning it down but on the other side you know I was turning down a career in the police so there there were a lot
Of decisions made but you’re right it was complet it’s completely changed my life just saying yes to that decision what did uh friends and family say like were they quite supportive of you moving out to Cambodia yeah I think everyone was a bit like wow where has this come from um I
Mean I did travel in in my teens as well but my mom was very supportive but I don’t think she thought it was going to last this long but yeah everyone was like go for it and obviously I mean the first job I had out there wasn’t paying
Very well so I remember kind of telling Mom it was a slightly higher figure than it was and just saying I’m going out I’ll be fine but yeah everyone’s everyone’s been very supportive so when did you start first start cycle touring and going on sort of longer and longer
Trips Co obviously hit and hit Cambodia very hard like a lot of countries and um I took redundancy first because I was like we need to pay the local staffers as long as we can um and I said in my package can I just have the one of the
Touring bikes in the back and um two paa bags you know the the bags that sit on the back and a week after I’d taken redundancy i’ i’ went and cycled around Cambodia solo for three weeks and that was my first tour and then since then so
Really just since covid um I’m now on my eighth seventh eth country so it’s uh it’s really gone quite quickly since then what were the lessons that you learned from that 3-week tour did you did you have it sort of pretty much dialed in before you even went on that
Tour or was that 3E tour right really sort of like quite not quite inexperienced but just like just figuring it all out and working out you how did the paniers work or you know did you have a bit more knowledge than that yeah no I totally just threw it to the
Wind I had no idea so I was very inexperienced but I learned so much on that first um trip so on that trip I I asked one of my friends my Cambodian friends to write a magic letter for me which basically was in Cambodian language um explaining what I was doing
Um why where I was going what I was doing and basically thanking anyone for letting me ride around their beautiful country and that letter just helped me so much along the way so even though I was winging it I would just show it to a local and and it just opened so many
Doors and people you know invited me in for dinner and and said come and stay at our house and yeah it was just a brilliant way to uh just dive straight into it and and get to know the locals and get to know the culture and yeah
It’s just brilliant what were you doing for accommodation were you while camping was it easy to find places to stay what was it like getting food you know how much were you spending you know what was it like sort of logistically yeah that first trip I really hadn’t got into the
Camping so I was staying I mean guest houses there are what $5 so I was staying in some really cheap places I I stayed with local families a few times cuz they a lot of local families sleep outside anyway they would offer me to
Stay and I said yes a few times but yeah a lot of the time I was just staying in guest houses but now looking back I I don’t stay in hotels or guest houses anymore I’m always camping so um yeah I’ve definitely moved like moved on
Since that trip um and and change the way I do it but yeah foodwise I ate is so cheap to eat if you eat like a local out there it’s very cheap to get rice and chicken and are really cheap but the the big problem was the water I had I
Really had underestimated how much water I needed to carry it was pretty hot hot in Cambodia I just hadn’t quite got the equipment to carry everything yet and I think I was still mapping things off my phone so all of that after the a few years I’ve really invested in equipment
So where did you go after Cambodia where I was next I went home to the UK um and I was miserable and I thought I’ve got to do something about this so set up a small project called Mind Over miles and we basically and I I said to two of my
Mates at cycle do you want to join and do you want the cycle Land End to Jonah greates to raise money for adventure therapy which is a UK charity that um helped take people out on adventures for their mental health so whether it’s kayaking surfing walking so yeah we
Cycled um from Conwell to the top of Scotland to Lance then to Jon GRS um and it was it was amazing to ride with people um and then after that I basically jumped on a plane and went out to Central America and went out to Costa
Rica and Nicaragua and I took my bike and cycled solo there on my own tell me more about Mind Over miles and Adventure therapy why was this uh charity sort of so close to your heart I’d got back from Cambodia and I was feeling pretty low myself and I was just seeing everyone
Was pretty miserable around me and Co was so tough for so many people and I just wanted to to try to do something so I start saying friends do you want to when we were allowed I was like do you want to come out for a cycle let’s get
Some fresh air let’s go outside and then I just kind of came up with this concept about cycling and how good it is for people to get out and yeah just kind of went from there and reached out so few Charities and Adventure therapy really
Stood out for me and um yeah met the team there and and what they do is amazing withler job what are some of the lessons that you learned what was that experience like cycling from lanen to Johnny Gro see what are some of the highlights some of the challenges of
That of that ride it was tough because the two people I rode with were one of Charlie is an ex- army officer and uh pip is a a triathlete and you know done some great she’s done some triathlons for great Britain or or at her age level
So I was really slow compared to them and I was still very much a bike tourer looking around and the others were racing quite a lot um so I I found it hard to keep up was my challenge the whole thing was just really beautiful
And and we just we carried all of our luggage yeah it just it really fun to do it with people that’s the only tour I’ve done with people now so um um it was it was a good experience to share it with people um but also tougher because if
One of their bikes broke down you know we were stock for hours or if it you just have to think about other people which is good but it just is a different way to talk give us some information about your bike for the bike lovers out listening what bike do you have what
What are some of the equipment that you have on it h yeah talk us does it have a name you talk us talk us through the essentials yeah sure so I’ve got a surly ogre I invested in this last year the year before because I knew I wanted to
Do a big big trip um like Australia it’s a great bike it’s it’s got really fat tires so I I run um big tires so that I can get off the road as much as possible and and find remote places Go off into gravel dirt roads I carry now two piers
On the back but also a big paa bag that sits on top um I use a woo for my mapping and my GPS and yeah I just I’ve just started just getting new just picking up equipment camel bats um just little just little things to help on my
Way that I didn’t have all before and and it’s definitely making my life easier what do you do for power do you use like solar panels um or I can’t remember the something you can have a Dynamo or something you can have on the bike for power you know what do you do
For power yeah sure so I looked into the solar panels um and for for the weight that you have to carry for them I’ve what I’ve read is that on the bike you just don’t get enough um like obviously there was a lot of sun but the the ones
That I was looking at they just didn’t have the best reviews so I’ve just opted for three very good power Banks um and they’re they’re they’re enough for the moment um so yeah I haven’t I haven’t gone down the route of solar panels yet because I’m just trying to carry um I
Don’t want to carry too much because everything I have to carry is more weight do you have any any luxury items that you carry with you no no I’m not very luxury person actually you should see my uh I only just bought the sleep
In mat so I I’m very yeah I’m very basic with stuff and um no I don’t think I do I’ve got well saying that I do have my laptop cuz I’m still working online as I travel around as I cycle around Australia I have my laptop in my Piers
Oh amazing what what did you for work how do you make it work with working there’s lots of work in here how do you make it work with working like on the road what sort of budget are you working with how are you managing costs did you
Save up before you came out you know yeah like how are you affording to to bike pack yeah sure I really like to tell people this because everyone’s like oh she just must have you know have savings but actually no I’m I’m doing it
On a very small budget um I work for a company called gifting owl and we sell um Global gift experiences and basically it’s U me and my boss my boss is a traveler and she’s in um Patagonia at the moment traveling and she basically was looking for someone to cover the
Australian hours and um we met years ago in Thailand and just a small world connection and I said you know I can do part-time so I work U maybe 34 hours a day but so say I leave to go cycling at 5:00 a.m. I normally arrive by midday or
Later in the afternoon and I just and I work in the um after that and it’s just it’s just the perfect balance it’s the perfect balance to earn a bit of money as I go I love working as well I’m still very motivated in that sense so it’s I’m
Really enjoying having that um that cycle life balance let’s say and yeah so I camp I don’t spend money on accommodation especially in Australia because it’s so expensive so I’m really not paying much for accommodation and um for food I write blogs for Back Country Cuisine and I get um they they kindly
Supply me with freeze-dried food so yeah I’m I’m trying to work around things so that I’m not spending too much money tell us more about your solo cycling around Australia what does the route look like how long are you going to be over there for where did you start Where
Have You Been um yeah talk us through it I shipped my bike out to Tasmania and I I wasn’t set on doing this crazy adventure but I had it in the back of my mind and then as soon as I basically got into Australia I was like right I’m
Going to try cycle around it so I’m basically cycling 16,000 Kish around that’s kind of roughly what I’ve worked it out to be and it’s nearly a lap but it’s not a lap because I really want to go down the middle um of Australia so I started in Tasmania road to devonport
Which is where you get the ferry that connects you to Melbourne and then I B basically have done Melbourne all the way up the east coast to um cans and that’s taken about three months and I’m waiting in the the table lands um in a small town called um Aon because the
Roads to Darwin are still quite flooded there’s been a lot of rain so I’ve got up here too early so can’t cross over to Darwin yet but yeah basically I’ll be leaving in a couple of weeks and that’s about 3,000k to Darwin but it’s so remote so I’ve got a really big
Challenge ahead of me getting to Darwin because I’m going to have to be carrying a lot of supplies um to expect not to see people or shops for a couple of days in a in a in in a row so yeah it’s going to be a good challenge I’m I’m ready and
I’m excited for it if you’re looking at a map of Australia you’ve got Melbourne down on the bottom sort of right corner with like Tasmania below it Darwin sort of like right in the center at the top are you you’re then going to head down to Alis Springs to aroo where would you
Go after that when you start entering like South Australia are you going to head to Perth or back to Adelaide melbour Direction I’m going to head to Perth along the nullabor I’ve always always wanted to do the nullor even though people say it’s just this long straight road it’s basically yeah I
Think over 1,000 kilometers on this straight road but it’s supposed to be phenomenal you have to be careful with road trains and traffic but um I’m I’m really excited to do that so that will be kind of my last leg into Perth before I I fly home what’s going to happen when
You head home uh well I won’t be home for long I don’t think I’ve I’ve got a good Friend’s Wedding um that I’m going to I said I’d go so I I I’m definitely going back for that and then um my next adventure I’m hoping to cycle back from
Cambodia to London it’s still a big plan in in the future but I hope in the next few years to to start doing that oh gosh I absolutely love that that sounds amazing yeah it’s a it’s a long way away but if you if you talk about it enough
It will happen right I do I I agree put it out there like why not like yeah like dreams become reality so yeah plan big dream big what what have you found most challenging while you’ve been cycle touring probably in Australia just their long distances sometimes without seeing
Anyone and and you’re on your own and and I love people I love being around people I do like being on my own but just entertaining yourself for eight hours on a bike I I never get bored but just training your mind not to WAND is
Tough and yeah I’d say for me that’s my biggest challenge probably would you listen to podcasts or audio books or music while you’re on your bike or are you sort of um keep your head free um yeah no I definitely do like I’ve listen to definitely a few of yours which have
Been really inspiring on the road but no a lot of the time I don’t want to get too dependent on music and podcast just because like this stretch to darwi and I you know might I I just don’t want to if my phone dies I don’t want to be
Dependent oh I need the music to feel good and does that make sense just just be too dependent on entertainment because you’ve got to be able to ride without it as well I’d love you to share some of those like magic moments those funny stories those bits which really
Like stand out for you and you look back on and just think yeah this this is why I ride this is why I go um exploring by bicycle it’s just got to be the the People You Meet along the way and I use warm showers which is an app it’s a
Funny name for an app but basically you get hosted um by other cyclists for the night I’ve just met some incredible characters that have just been very funny and just um they’ve normally done lots of Adventures themselves and you you sit around and share stories but I
Also had one in Tasmania and he was very clear on his kind of profile that he lives in the wilderness and and you can only Camp outside at his house but he’ll give you some dinner cook up dinner so I arrive and and straight away so also on
His bio he says I like chocolate and I expect people to bring a gift and I was like okay that’s very he’s written it I’ll do it so I arve with like three bars of dark chocolate that he said he likes and then straight away he was like
Um I do the whm Hoff method like he he basically just said hello and he was like I do the Wim Hoff method and I’m going down to the pond right now to have a swim do you want to come and I was like okay well like hello and basically
We just went for it straight away and we just went and this freezing cold Pond and it was just one of those moments you’re like this is so weird but so amazing and so great and just the people you meet on the road things like that
That was probably a bit of a weird story but I’m just trying to explain that you just you meet all sorts of characters on the road and have you always felt like safe while you’ve been riding or have there ever been sort of any situations where you felt sort of concerned for
Your safety yeah I would say because I I really try not to think about the the things that could go wrong or what’s scary or what I really tried to stay positive but um in Nicaragua I was pretty pretty scared on the road just as
As a woman they love blonde hair and and uh the attention got quite just a bit too much and nothing ever happened that that was scary no one ever did anything aggressive or anything to me but it was just a constant people would drive their cars next to me constantly and just stay
That bit too long and do you know what I mean just that constant feeling like you’re being watched um but actually you know I don’t know if that was just because there was a lot of other people telling me that Nicaragua is a scary place and maybe I took that and I had
Fear in my mind and already so I had that perception but it was a beautiful country and I had some great experiences there but I do think as a solo woman it it was um the attention is a lot yeah I I mean I remember when I was in Mexico I
Was actually um taking dirt down like Baja California but I was cycling with two guys and and then like s of like halfway through they they headed off um in a different direction and I was carrying on down to Cabo San Lucas and it was almost like this switch had gone
Because I’d forgotten what it was like not to be the center of attention like so when you when when I was traveling with the guys it was almost like oh she’s with them therefore I won’t stare I won’t make comments I won’t be inappropriate and then when I was back
To sort of like solo travel it was like oh I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be St like yeah to be to be stared at or to be spoken about and and I forgotten about I suppose I call it almost like that mental load because I don’t know
How much do this or I mean I something that I just do automatically now it’s like I switch on I have like a traveling brain where I am analyzing where am I what side of the street am I where am I walking past what does that car park
Look like when I walk into a restaurant or a bar or you know a form of accommodation or anybody that I’m talking to I’m literally like what does my gut feel like do I feel safe with this person like it’s almost like that I’m constantly analyzing and like sort of mentally I think
Sometimes it can be very very draining and I do get to a point where I’m like oh I just need a to switch off and have a have a break and if you experienced that how do you manage that for when you’re out on the road for longer
Periods of time I’ve definitely felt that but I’ve really kind of tried to let that go as much as possible because I’m just like there’s just no point doing this if I’m really fearful and all I’ve experienced in a lot of my travels is just kindness so I’m like where why
Is that fear coming when all I’ve actually experienced is people being lovely to me so I’m trying to not be like that and if I do definitely listen to my gut if if I feel like something’s not right but I won’t jump to that conclusion if someone’s pulled their car
Over ahead of me now I just think oh they just stopped to say hello whereas before I might think oh my God they they’re going to get me whereas now I’m very much like just focusing on the positive things because I just don’t think I would be able to do it mentally
If if I was always thinking about what might go wrong so I’ve really really worked on that the last couple of years just thinking no this is going to go smoothly so you mentioned that you’ve got um The Surly ogre was it yeah yeah ogre yeah what a great name um I know
With that bike you can actually go Offroad did you do the great Queensland rail trail Adventure I did yeah so yeah this was awesome so I basically was in Brisbane and and I had typed in kind of on the internet our rail Trails because there’s a lot there’s a lot of rail
Trails that have been turned into bike paths in Australia I found this guy’s website and basically he he had tried to link like four or five rail Trails up together and um it was it this new thing that he’ turned the great Queensland rail trail Adventure it’s a bit of a
Mouthful but anyway and I I saw it and I was like I really want to try that and it was basically 600 kilometers Offroad and pretty pretty hectic like a lot of the rail trails are covered in Long Grass a lot of have River crossings that you have to
Carry your bike over hump you know really massive bumps and humps so it was challenging on a loaded Touring bike for sure but I met some of the coolest locals that are so passionate about making these rail Trails um more bike friendly and you know they they kind of
Got wind that I was coming and they one guy came out and found me in the bush and he basically brought a picnic table and brought ice cold drinks and food and water so I could wash my face and he’d set up and he’ set his this picnic table
Up it was I was so overwhelmed because I hadn’t seen anyone for ages and then I I saw this lovely guy and it was just it’s brilliant oh so how long were you out on the Queensland rail trail for so 600k so that was yeah that was a good six five
Six days of tough riding but there was one day where the temperatures it was was like a mini Heat Wave and it was 42° and I just was in I was in a in trouble I just couldn’t ride anymore so that was I had to um cut that day down
Because it was just unbearable the the heat um but yeah that was it was I really recommend it to people if if they’re looking for because you’ve got the Brisbane um Valley rail trail which is this 150k rail trail that’s very familyfriendly anyone could anyone could
Do it and enjoy it um and this great Queen land rail trail adventur is definitely for people looking to to get out into the bush and have more of an adventure how did you learned about the mechanics of your bike is this something that you’ve picked up along the way or
Have you gone on like a mechanics course how have you learned those skills when I was running the bike shop in Cambodia we had a team of like six mechanics and I really wanted to learn so I did go and just sit and watch them a lot and we had
A fleet of 100 bikes so they they had a big job of always turning over the bikes and making sure they were in good neck so yeah I started kind of watching and then a few of them taught me the the real Basics and then to be honest you just learn
When things go wrong cuz things go wrong so um when you’re on your own you have to fix it so that’s the best way I’ve learned because I’m I’m not I wouldn’t say it comes naturally to me I’m not uh I’m a bit cat candid so mechanics
Doesn’t come naturally to me but you have to figure it out when you’re when you’re in trouble so um that’s kind of how I’ve learned have many things gone wrong with the with the bike with the early ogre I want to say they haven’t but really when I I could name quite a
Few things but no I think it’s the way the way I’m touring is that I really am taking it off into the the middle of nowhere and and making it go down bumpy roads and so I have I have had a few cracked rims and rips in my tire but
That’s because I’m pushing the bike probably where it shouldn’t be so yeah a few things have gone wrong but I would say it’s probably my fault what what do you do for communication you know how do you stay in contact with with your family do you
Have a Tracker that that you use as well like with with the satellite communication um yeah share more about your communication I have just got a satellite phone delivered um it’s called Zio and you it’s really small and you just attach it to your bag and it’s it’s
Got an SOS button and a check-in button and you can send a message offline and all of that jazz I also have a spreadsheet of everywhere that I’m going um so and everyone that wants to be um included I’ve shared that with them and so everyone’s got my kind of plan of
Itinery which I think is a sensible thing to do if you go off on your own just to make sure so people know whereabouts you’re going and then yeah I’ve got obviously the iPhone tracks where you are and I’ve got a small track another tracker that um someone gave to
Me he he wanted to donate it for the trip um so that’s it in the bottom of my bag as well and then finally so I was camping in pre- camping in a a pet said had a sign that said camping in the back and basically I went into the pub and I
Had a bit of a moment where you go okay I’m the only female in the pub there’s 10 BLS sitting at the the bar and there was one chair left right in the middle and I was like okay so I went and sat in the middle and one of them goes oh
Bloody Al I saw you this morning and he was a truck driver and he seen me on my bike he was like how did you get here and I was like I cycled and basically he was like can I get you a beer and we we
Chatted for a couple of hours and all these guys were truck drivers and um I said to them look I’ve had a few close calls with you guys like how can I help you see me a bit more vice versa um and they were like just get a just get a
Radio and talk to us they’re all on channel 40 in Australia and you just you can just get like a a handheld radio and you can tell them where you are so yeah basically have been on that and it’s really funny because you can listen to anyone’s conversation on Channel 4
Through as well so that’s a bit of entertainment but yeah I just feel a lot safer that I can speak to them that’s really it’s interesting you mentioned Zio I met them at the national outdoor expo and ended up getting invited to their their UK bran launch launch event
Which was held in Manchester and got given AIO yeah to use you know with like the unlimited messaging and everything else was like I was actually blown away by like how good it is and I’m going to be taking it on my you know my next adventures and trips that I’ve got
Planned throughout of 2023 and and hopefully Beyond so it was just really interesting that you brought it up I was like oh God I I know them I know that I’ve got I haven’t been able to test it out yet because I’ve just got it delivered but I’m I’m really excited and
I’ve already you know done a few tests and my friends back in England have got the messages so um yeah I’m really excited to use it and I’d love for you to to share your advice and top tips in is basically advice for other women who
Are thinking actually you know I want to get exploring by bicycle I want to see more of the world in in this style in this way and become like a bicycle Adventurer I’d love for you to share like some of your top tips and advice
What would you like to say first of all go and order a book by derin Murphy an Irish woman called f Full Tilt I reckon that will just get you going she is an amazing Adventurer and I read her book and and that has been one of things that
Spurred me on for sure so um just a little bit about her she rode from Ireland to India in the 1960s with a revolver in her pocket and she’s just an absolute Legend um so yeah that that would be a top tip go go and get her
Book even if you if you’re just starting to think about doing it and number two yeah just just go for it you know Li life is too short just to to think I’ve done it as well you just think I really want to do that but you just have to
Start it’s just all momentum just buy that bike or you know and don’t overthink things cuz you know you can you’re going to I always think people say to me oh but I don’t have a very good bike but you can you can do it on a
Any bike you just got to just got to get going and and start um that’s the hardest part I think just starting obviously it’s all good and well saying just go but I do believe preparation is great and you can yeah you can look on Facebook there’s there’s bicycle
Traveler groups there’s all these groups are so helpful um I mean I’m on one in Australia called bite pack in Australia and every day there’s something helpful on there and then if you’re nervous because things like bike mechanics aren’t your Forte yeah maybe join in a
Bike mechanics course or join in your Lo like there’s so many good um bicycle clubs locally and I think just yeah any of these things can help you um get started uh and they’re definitely worth worth doing yeah I mean even just on the bike front like I remember when I first
Got into cycling like I didn’t have bike at home but my dad had this like rusted old bike in the shed and I think I’d been washing dishes at the local calf and I’d saved up my 4550 quid or whatever it was took it to the bike shop
In Hoy Lake I was like yeah can you just like fix this up and like pump up the tires and give it you know check the brakes and all of that and then that was what I used to you know to do some practice cycling before I headed off to
Vancouver and then I got to Vancouver and i’ done the research beforehand to know that there was there was bike shops there which sold secondhand bikes and basically the first day I arrived there went to the secondhand Bike Shop was like Hey I want to cycle down pafic
Coast Highway what’s the what is the cheapest bike that you have that will get the job done I don’t care about the color the name the style the you know just as long as it it fits me it can get me from A to B um and it’s relative I’m
Sure it maybe it was like $300 or $300 Canadian dollar or something they double checked the brakes added a got the back rack on there bought some paniers and yeah it was like okay we go yeah let’s figure this let’s figure this out absolutely I do think it’s something
To say for that I think that you know everyone starts with the their you know I had a a bike off Facebook Marketplace to start with I think it’s great to start with something that isn’t isn’t the world’s best bike because it it just helps it’s it’s part of the adventure I
Left one of my bikes in Costa Rica actually um I left it and gave it to a local but I I do think there’s something to say to for buying a cheaper one CU you can wreck it and it’s okay because you’ve got your money’s worth and cl
Where do you share your journey where are you most active on social media where can people find more information out about you yeah sure so I do um I post a bit on Facebook but mainly Instagram so it’s exploring by bicycle is the handle tomorrow I write a blog a
Very casual blog on wondering w that my grandad reads and I think only my granddad reads I’ve read it as well wondering why but CLA thank you so much for coming on T podcast to share more about your passion for cycling getting outdoors and yeah going on exploring by bicycle
Absolutely inspiring just continue to enjoy the rest of Australia and I hope you get on to do your incredible adventure riding from Cambodia to the UK you’ve talked about it here so now you’ve got to go out and absolutely make it happen in the future so yeah really
Excited to follow along thank you so much thank you for having me on the Podcast hey tribe I really hope you enjoyed the episode with CLA one absolute inspiration I hope it’s inspired you to think a little bit more about where in the world that you would like to go cycling actually reminded me and some of you may not know this but
Back in 2018 I actually did a big cycle trip I flew over to Vancouver bought a secondhand bike and proceed to cycle down the Pacific Coast Highway cross the border into Mexico and cycle down Baja California all the way to Cabo San Lucas now if you’re interested in learning
More about my adventure the challenge there’s a couple of things that you can do so there’s actually two podcast episodes one is on the planning and preparation for undertaking a bike packing trip like that how did I do it how did I afford to pay for it what was
Um what did I need to do before I even got out there and then there is also a follow-up episode where I talk about about the ride the challenges what I learned along the way so there’s two podcast episodes dedicated to the Pacific Coast Cycle ride and then
There’s also the third option which is on the tough girl YouTube channel because I did actually Vlog the challenge so you can go and watch the story unfold as I cycle from Vancouver cross over the golden great bridge in San Francisco cross over the border into
Mexico get left in the desert by two guys who were cycling with me that’s a whole other story and then proceeded to go on I think it was route number one all the way down to Cabos San lucos very very exciting Journey that I went on it
Was a few years ago actually I haven’t been cycling for quite a while so I possibly need to add that to my list of future adventures and challenges but my list is so long already and I’m focusing on hiking and walking at the moment but if you are particularly interested in
Bike packing and cycling then I’d highly recommend you go and visit tgard challenges.com in the resources section there is a dedicated cyclist page and we have spoken to such a wide range of women so most recently we’ve spoken with Tegan Phillips is an adventure cyclist and cartoonist from from South Africa
She’s currently preparing for a second attempt at being the fastest woman to cycle from K to K Town Laura massip Pew she’s came on the tough girl podcast she just me on tough girl podcast twice she first shares more about her bike packing journal and her plan to cycle around the
World on a tandem with her husband she recently did that and came back on the tough God podcast extra to share more about it so she completed on it in 180 days on the back of a tandem and she got a new Guinness World Record we’ve also
Spoken to vangi kolani she was the youngest woman she s around the world we spoken with mountain bikers such as nula Tamara Wright who’s also known as the mountain Queen she’s the mountain biking national champion of Nepal from 2001 to 2012 LEL Wilcox an absolute Legend she’s
An ultra endurance bike rider and racer she won the trans and bike race in 2016 and set the tour divide women’s course record on an individual time trial in 201 15 we’ve got Abby Melton she’s neurode Divergent fat cyclist co-author of gears for queers she’s promoting body positivity and encouraging everyone to
Get on their bike so lots of different episodes with a whole variety of different Women Amazing Stories oh big shout out to Helen dainty as well she is wearing the tough girl buff and currently I believe cycling through Iran at the moment but she came on the tough
Girl podcast to share more about being a full-time Global hobo cycling the world on Aussie $100 a week she’s years into her project and 58,000 km cycled so far she shares more of her journey as well on the social so well worth following along um like I say you know we’ve got
Such a massive back catalog now in the tough girl podcast there’s over 650 episodes for you to listen to so please do go visit tgir challenges.com and you know to be honest you will learn something from every single episode that you listen to on the tough girl podcast
This is the first time that you’re listening welcome thank you so much I hope you’ll download loads more of them if you are regularly listener thank you so much for listening and I’m sure you’ve done this already but I’d love you to tell one friend about the tough
Girl podcast it would mean the world to me and it’s just another way of getting these women’s stories out there the other great thing that you can do is you can share on social media tag me in it @tg challenges on Instagram use the hasht girl podcast I will reshare and
It’s always more powerful when it comes to other people I will always Bang the Drum about the incredible women who share their stories on the tough girl podcast but with just me banging the drum it’s not very loud and so that’s why I need all of you listening to share
With your friends share on social media share on Facebook Twitter or should I say x Etc to to get the message out there and to inspire other women and girls to get out there move their bodies get fit get active and to follow their dreams and to go and Explore More Of The
World um if you like support the mission to increase amount of female role models in the media please visit patreon p a e o n.com tgirl podcast all that’s left for me to say is wherever you are whatever you are doing give it your all
Give it 110% get after it go for it believe in yourself because I believe in you take care lots of love and I’ll speak to you soon Bye