October 6 – Anniversary of a Human-Powered (mostly feet!) Feat

nPostednOctober 6, 2016

Onnthis date in 2007, adventurer Jason Lewis finished an expedition thatntook a looooooong time.

nItntook him 13 years, but he circled the entire world entirely throughnhuman powered means. He is the first to have done so…and he mightnbe the only to ever do so!

nAlong the way to this accomplishment, Lewis also became one of two first people to cross the Atlantic Ocean by pedal power, the first person to cross North America on inline skates, andnthe first person to cross the Pacific Ocean by pedal power.

nHerenis how it went:

nOnnJuly 12, 1994, Jason Lewis and his friend Stevie Smith left London onnwhat they called Expedition 360. I see no record of how they crossednthe English Channel – likely they pedaled a boat? – but theynmountain-biked 1,700 miles through France, Spain, and Portugal. Theyncrossed the Atlantic Ocean from Lagos, Portugal, ot Miami, Florida,npedaling a wooden pedal-powered boat for 111 consecutive days toncross 4,500 miles of ocean!

nWhennthey landed, on October 14, 1994, Smith seems to disappear from thenaccount of crossing North America. But Lewis kept on.

Lewisnroller bladed thousands of miles across the U.S. His accomplishmentnwas very nearly wiped out by a drunk driver in Pueblo, Colorado, andnhe spent nine months recovering from two broken legs. But Lewis keptnon. And he finished his North America journey in 1996.

nThennthere is a two year break. The route map (shown below) shows a jauntndown to Mexico, and I know that Lewis took odd jobs to fund hisnadventure. I read that he did cattle driving in Colorado and workednin a funeral parlor in Australia…but that was before and after thisnCalifornia sojourn.

nSmithnrejoins the story in San Francisco, California, in 1998. Smith andnLewis reunited with their old pedal-powered boat and spent 53 daysngetting from California to Hilo, Hawaii. Smith took off again, thisntime for good.

nLewisnand a group of supporters hiked across the Big Island of Hawaii.nAnother 80 miles checked off the list.

Fornthe first time, Lewis started to pedal across the ocean alone. Travelingnfrom Hawaii to Tarawa took 72 days of solo pedaling. I am assumingnthere was a bit more of a break at that point; in 2000, thenpedal-boat’s builder, Chris Tipper, joined Lewis to help pedal an1,300-mile stretch from Tarawa to the Solomon Islands. At that pointnanother supporter stepped in to help with then next 1,450 miles,ncrossing the Coral Sea from the Solomon Islands to Australia. Thatntook about a month; Lewis arrived in Australia during what I alwaysnthink of as summer (June or July of 2000), but what is winter “downnunder.”

nAnothernpause to regroup and perhaps earn money. In 2001, Lewis crossednAustralia by bike. He traveled 3,500 miles in 88 days, traveling withna group of supporters. n

nAnothernpause. Fundraising! Finally Expedition 360 was relaunched with ye oldenpedal-powered boat in 2005. This time Lewis pedaled with LourdesnArango, traveling 450 miles from Darwin, Australia, to Dili, EastnTimor. At some point near Australia, they were attacked by ancrocodile, but of course they survived! Once in East Timor, Lewisnswitched to a kayak and traveled thousands of miles from island tonisland, traveling through the Indonesian archipelago and tonSingapore.

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nInn2006 Lewis biked from Singapore to the Himalaya Mountains, and thennhe hiked and biked through the Himalayas to Mumbai, India. It tooknhim 46 days of pedaling with another friend to travel 2,000 milesnfrom Mumbai to Djibouti. n

nThennext part of the planned route would have taken Lewis throughnEthiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and the Middle East, back into Europe.nActually, this part didn’t go too smoothly. Authorities wouldn’t letnhim kayak here or mountain-bike there. He was arrested on suspicionnof spying. He completed this section by illegally traveling, partlynat night. By the way, during his time in Sudan, Lewis came across actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, who were doing the LongnWay Down motorbike trip.

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nInnJuly 2007, Lewis reached Syria; he bicycled across Turkey, Bulgaria,nRomania, Austria, Germany, and Belgium. And then finally back to thenUnited Kingdom and London. n

nGoalnachieved! Lewis had traveled 360 degrees, more than 46 thousand miles, and survived multiple adversities — attacks and accidents and an arrest — andnseveral illnesses.
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JasonnLewis has written several books and has visited more than 900 schoolsnin 37 countries, giving talks to students about world citizenship andnzero carbon emission travel. He also works to get students involvednin programs connected to global sustainability.

nBynthe way, it’s interesting to note that before Expedition 360, Lewisnhad never crossed an ocean before and had never roller bladed,nkayaked, or rode a bike for more than a few miles! n

nWow!!

nAlsonon this date: