Always Another Adventure

This month I'm sharing an episode of different podcast, the Adventure Audio Podcast, in which I am the guest. I was surprised when I was asked to contribute, given the two hosts, are extremely accomplished outdoors people. But since I ask others to share their stories, I felt I ought to accept. Peter Hockenhull and Laval St. Germain were probing in their questions, and I probably shared a lot more about myself than I normally would on my own podcast. I hope you enjoy it. Normal service will resume soon.

Glen Van Peski is well known in the United States as a leading member of the ultra-light hiking community and founder of https://www.gossamergear.com/ His new book extends the 'take less do more' philosophy, from backpacking to life as he and his wife Francie live it. We met in 2002 when Glen helped Liz and I on our PCT thru-hike, and it was great to reconnect with him. Book on Amazon ▶︎ https://amzn.to/3IvRFQj (affiliate link) My PCT Podcast ▶︎ https://PCTpodcast.com

Dr Peter Clarkson, is an NHS Cardiologist based in the Scottish highlands, and a very keen and talented rock climber. He has also competed in triathlons. I’ve been trying to answer a question; 'how hard is too hard' when it comes to exercise for an older athlete? How close to maximum heart rate should we be hiking, running and cycling? What are the warning signs we're going too hard, too often? Dr Clarkson agreed to shoot a video with me for The Older Athlete Series and we met at The Ledge climbing gym in Inverness. You can see the video I made from this chat on YouTube. This podcast is our whole interview with only minor edits to tidy the conversation, and it's also available to watch in video.

There’s more adventure in this podcast than most. Ed Ley-Wilson talks us through Running the great Wall of China; kayaking Patagonia; and the kayak journey along Scotland’s west coast that promoted his most recent book. Along the way we’ll take a dive into the ethics of fish farming. Ed’s first book about running the Himalaya is called ‘The Himalayan Shuffle’ and you can find old copies on various websites. Ed’s new book Kayaking the Sea Roads is out now: https://amzn.to/3HAOiHj If you want to hear more about kayaking in Patagonia check out Episode 8 with Will Copestake > https://www.buzzsprout.com/954676/3255151

Get your 2024 off to an exciting start by planning to cycle 100 miles this summer in Scotland's friendliest, free century ride. Ride to the Sun is a (semi)-organised, summer solstice 100 mile ride through the night, from the English border city of Carlisle to the village of Cramond just north of Edinburgh in Scotland, aiming to arrive for sunrise around 4:20am. We’ll hear from organisers Gary Cameron and Fraser Maxwell, plus learn how to organise the logistics of this point-to-point ride. I'll also try to understand why it appeals to a range of cyclists, whether they're tackling their first century or riding it as part of a 300 mile Audax. I've been at this event three times and it gets better each year. Website Video

This is a story of adventure on the highest of mountains, and also so much more. A young TV camera operator gets his first big break to film on Everest. He then has to come to terms with almost dying in an avalanche and the tragedy of losing friends in two of the biggest disasters ever to hit that mountain. In this podcast we hear the story of Joe French's recovery from post traumatic stress, barefoot running through the forest above his home in the Scottish Highlands. It's a story he tells in vivid detail in his book Out of Mind. Out of Mind by Joe French (Amazon affiliate link)

The Roam Scotland Rally is an annual ride, devised by Calum Munro after he cycled the Torino Nice Rally. Each year it takes a different route and spoke to Calum part-way through the 2023 ride. The routes can be tackled at any time. Roam Scotland Rally website

In the Spring of 2023 Jamie Aarons set a new record for a self-propelled round of The Munros, Scotland's 282 mountains over 3,000ft in elevation. Here she talks about her background, discovering hill-running, the community that helped her complete the challenge and the problems she overcame along the way. Jamie's Just Giving page Jamie's Website

Part 2. Former British Mountain Bike champion, Active Nation Commission for Scotland, and now author of an excellent memoir (sort of memoir) Other Ways to Win we'll hear from the inspiring Lee Craigie. Lee and I take a short ride together, chatting about the book and some of its deeper themes. Lee reads passages from the book and these act as springboards for our conversation. There are too many adventure stories for one podcast, so part two comes soon. I spoke to Lee about many of these adventures a couple of years ago, and that podcast will be re-released to tie into this publication. There's also a video of part of our conversation - it's in a longer video telling the story of my own two-day cycle ride to visit her, called Other Ways to Lee. Buy Other Ways To Win on Amazon.

Former British Mountain Bike champion, Active Nation Commission for Scotland, and now author of an excellent memoir (sort of memoir) Other Ways to Win we'll hear from the inspiring Lee Craigie. Lee and I take a short ride together, chatting about the book and some of its deeper themes. Lee reads passages from the book and these act as springboards for our conversation. There are too many adventure stories for one podcast, so part two comes soon. I spoke to Lee about many of these adventures a couple of years ago, and that podcast will be re-released to tie into this publication. There's also a video of part of our conversation - it's in a longer video telling the story of my own two-day cycle ride to visit her, called Other Ways to Lee. Buy Other Ways To Win on Amazon.

Single-speed round-the-world cyclist Markus Stitz has written another book Bikepacking Scotland. He runs the website of the same name and I met Markus in his home in Edinburgh. Buy Bikepacking Scotland on Amazon (affiliate link) Bikepacking Scotland.com

The parallels between solo ocean racing and other ultra endurance sports are not immediately obvious. But as I listened to Pip Hare talk about her goal to complete the Vendee Globe - solo around the world race - for the second time, age 50, I heard striking and surprising parallels between this multi-million euro sport and simple ultra running or cycling. At which Pip also excels. She is part of the only team - a pair - to ever complete the running, cycling and sailing stages of the Three Peaks Yacht Race. So is it the hardest world's endurance event? She'll be racing flat out, constantly looking to maximise speed relative to weather conditions, never truly able to sleep, for almost three months. So it's tough. Pip Hare Ocean Racing Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

If you, a friend or a family member has an accident in the outdoors or elsewhere, would you know what to do? Many lives have been lost because people wait for trained help to arrive rather than carrying out simple first aid. I took a two-day first aid course with the First Aid Training Cooperative, part-owned by Cory Jones. He talks us through the thinking behind outdoor first aid, and you'll hear clips from the training and my reaction to the pressure of realistic scenarios. Cory also recorded a podcast about canoeing the Canadian Wilderness. The First Aid Training Cooperative Highland Experiences If you enjoy this podcast, please support the hosting costs by buying me a virtual coffee at www.ko-fi.com/sunartmedia Check out our YouTube channel and website

Better known as a mountain and trail runner, when Donnie Campbell took up gravel cycling he started winning races and smashing FKTs. Donnie has been on the podcast twice, talking about the wild places he runs (Ep. 2) and setting a new record for the fastest self-propelled round of Scotland's "Munro" mountains (Ep. 35). Now he explains his very different approach to bikepacking races - he doesn't sleep! Well OK, that's not strictly true, but he doesn't sleep much, even on the 2000km off-road French Divide, reckoned to be the hardest bikepacking race in Europe. We chatted in his kitchen. Donnie's coaching website - Get Active Running Instagram Facebook

He’s one of America’s great hikers and the man who devised and created the Pacific Northwest Trail. Ron Strickland has lived what he calls a "vagabondish" lifestyle, either on the USA’s trails or in Washington DC campaigning for his own. His memoir Pathfinder - the title is his trail-name - is a journey through a life spent outdoors, albeit with a few surprises. “It was not emotionally cost free” he says at one point, and I try to find out the price he paid for such freedom. We spoke the day after Ron’s eightieth birthday from his home in Hawaii. Ron’s website Pacific Northwest Trail Organization website Buy Pathfinder by Ron Strickland on Amazon Multi-part, 2022 PNT documentary Older PNT video

As the fastest woman around the world on a bicycle releases the book of her journey and embarks on a UK speaking tour, this is an updated version of an interview we recorded three years ago. Buy Jenny's Book (amazon affiliate link) Jenny's website Instagram and speaking tour dates

lAdventures come in all shapes and forms. The more complicated ones are often the most interesting. Bella & Steve Molloy quit corporate jobs in their native Australia to set up a travel advisory business in the French Pyrenees. Along the way, Bella got into ultra cycling and as recently started a podcast. Seek Travel Ride website Seek Travel ride podcast YouTube Facebook Instagram If you enjoy this podcast, please support the hosting costs by buying me a virtual coffee at www.ko-fi.com/sunartmedia Check out our YouTube channel and website

The first episode of a new podcast series which you'll find here https://pctpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ Twenty years ago we hiked this 2,600 mile wilderness trail from Mexico to Canada, across baking deserts and snowy mountain passes. At the time we were told it was the 'classic era' of the PCT. Now numbers have risen from a few hundred to thousands. More at PCTpodcast.com I made recordings with people along the way, but lost them until recently. Now I've produced a limited podcast series recalling at this classic time and also looking at the PCT today with people who know it well. We'll hear from a couple who hiked the trail twenty years after us and only just made it to the border as forest fires engulfed the area. This is the first episode of that series and other episodes are also live now. If you enjoy this podcast, please support the hosting costs by buying me a virtual coffee at www.ko-fi.com/sunartmedia Check out our YouTube channel and website

For the last twenty years, an Englishman has been a senior trainer and key family liaison member of Yosemite Search & Rescue, one of the world's busiest organisations of its kind. Moose Mutlow's curious career path took him through stints as a street-performing juggler, a deputy headmaster in the Kalahari and more than 2000 days leading and instructing in the wildest of the world’s places. Moose's books and online courses are used by professionals, not only to learn the practical skills of swift water rescue, but also the emotional techniques to lead worried or grieving relatives through rescues and recoveries of loved ones. All this while leading a $50m project in Yosemite to introduce more young people to life in wild places. Moose Mutlow's website Instagram Facebook If you enjoy this podcast, please support the hosting costs by buying me a virtual coffee at www.ko-fi.com/sunartmedia Check out our YouTube channel and website

In February 2023 Scotland will mark twenty years of Land Reform legislation that gave a Right of Responsible Access to the countryside. Yet challenges remain with some confusion about what's allowed and a reduction in the number of staff who had been appointed to upload access rights. There's also a challenge of equality of access, to widen the number of people taking physical activity in open spaces. Helen Todd, the campaigns and policy manager at Ramblers Scotland, guides us on the way ahead. Ramblers Scotland Paths Map The Out There Award Helen Todd's Twitter If you enjoy this podcast, please support the hosting costs by buying me a virtual coffee at www.ko-fi.com/sunartmedia Check out our YouTube channel and website