Fotografía de autor

Mark Beaumont (1)

Autor de The Man Who Cycled the World

Para otros autores llamados Mark Beaumont, ver la página de desambiguación.

5 Obras 177 Miembros 8 Reseñas

Obras de Mark Beaumont

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Género
male

Miembros

Reseñas

Slightly long winded detailed account of Marks incredible endurance ride. Nice pass-time, could have done with some more useful micro details. Eg how to deal with saddle soreness .
½
 
Denunciada
jvgravy | otra reseña | Jun 29, 2022 |
If you're one of them hardcore Muse fans (like me) who regularly trawl Musewiki, Muselive and the boards, this book will be rather tedious to read since Beaumont has heavily sourced from these websites. Also, Beaumont's bombastic writing style of adding more than unnecessary idioms and phrases are tiring to read at times (I guess that's the NME journalist in him).

However I do find Muse's family backgrounds to be interesting, and the compilated Muse discography at the back of the book will be awesome for Muse fans who intend to find their more obscure songs on the Internet.… (más)
 
Denunciada
georgeybataille | Jun 1, 2021 |
Before 2008 the record for cycling 18,000 miles stood at 276 days and 19 hours. Then Mark Beaumont smashed it by completing the same distance in a staggering 194 days and 17 hours. He managed this unsupported and had 30kg of equipment, clothing and camping gear on his bike. Since then he has cycled the length of the American and African continents, climbed the odd mountain and tried to row across an ocean. Since then various people had beaten his record and it stood at 123 days and 43 minutes set by the New Zealander Andrew Nicholson for his unsupported circumnavigation in 2015.

However, Mark had plans to take the record back again, big plans. Inspired by the Jules Vern story, Around the World in 80 days, he calculated that he could cycle the required 18,000 miles with the appropriate allowances for transfers between the continents by doing a staggering 240 miles per day. Every day. To do this though he needed a large team of people and an even larger amount of sponsorship. As he started putting out the feelers for those wanting to support him. As people begun to support him in this monumental challenge, he began to form a team, however, he knew he needed to get the miles in with training for this epic ride. He decided to cycle around the coast of the UK to get a feel for the mileage. He called it The Leg Stretcher, and he would travel 3500 miles heading off clockwise from London. It took him 14.5 days…

After a few minor finance hiccups, with people stepping in to help ensure that he could do it. He began his journey at the Arc de Triomphe as he did all those years before. His route around the world would take him all across Eurasia, then Australia and New Zealand. From there he would head to America and Canada before arriving back in Europe for the final jaunt back to Paris. Not only was this a relentless physical journey, but he would suffer setbacks, accidents, low points and ache continuously. He would also see amazing sights and be lifted by the people who rode with him on his relentless schedule or who took the time to show that their support.

It wouldn't be much of a spoiler to say that he completed the challenge, there wouldn't be a book if he hadn't. He managed to obliterate the record for the second time in his life coming in 45 days faster with a new record of 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes. It is a stunning achievement for endurance cycling and to show the limits of human endurance, but this sort of achievement can really only be done with teams of support crew to enable him to cycle 240 miles in one day. I think that he can safely say that the record will be his for the foreseeable future. Not totally sure it is a travel book though as he is going so fast around the world that the human interaction that you'd get from a travel book really isn't there. This is another really enjoyable book from Beaumont and if you have read his others then this should be on your reading list.
… (más)
 
Denunciada
PDCRead | otra reseña | Apr 6, 2020 |
In 2008 Mark Beaumont obliterated the record for cycling around the world, taking 82 days off the previous total. Then followed another ride through the Americas including climbing the highest peaks in Alaska and Argentina. This was followed by an attempt to row the Atlantic, that nearly ended in disaster. For this trip he was glad to be back on the bike to attempt breaking the record for the fastest journey from Cairo to Capetown; but this would be the toughest of the lot.

It is a continent that is full of danger and beauty, wild storms and majestic animals. On his fast journey he encountered all sort of terrains, from scorching deserts, smooth tarmac, rolling hills and roads reduced to quagmire with the torrential rains he encountered. He had moments of joy, and some really low points when he suffered food poisoning. He was aiming to ride a minimum of 150 miles a day to beat the previous record of 59 days. The speed that he was moving through the countries meant that he had little time to interact with the local populations, just enough to find places to sleep and the find the enormous amount of food that a challenge of this magnitude meant that he had to consume every day. Most of the people he met were warm, generous and delightful, occasionally soured by the odd group of stone throwing children and one attempted robbery.

It is an enjoyable book to read as you share his elation and pain on this charge through Africa. There is less on the interaction with the native people, but when you consider the pace that he had set himself for the record attempt, it was unlikely that he would have a huge amount of time available. It is a personal journey too, as he is not at home when really needed the most, and he agony of being there is quite poignant. Once again Beaumont has shown that he is a top class endurance athlete in this charge through Africa in his attempt to break the record, and if you liked his previous books this one will be right up your street too.
… (más)
 
Denunciada
PDCRead | Apr 6, 2020 |

Premios

También Puede Gustarte

Autores relacionados

Estadísticas

Obras
5
Miembros
177
Popularidad
#121,427
Valoración
3.8
Reseñas
8
ISBNs
43
Idiomas
1

Tablas y Gráficos