# Mark Beaumont - Around The World In 80 Days



## ianrauk (3 Apr 2017)

Is at it again.

Planning to cycle round the world in 80 days.

*Guardian Link*


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## Crackle (3 Apr 2017)

I was just reading that: Guiness have changed the rules to include travel time and this time he's doing it supported.

On a side note; does anyone know why Mike Hall's record was never ratified?


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## Milkfloat (3 Apr 2017)

Blimey - he is going to be replying on a lot of border guards to make passage simple. All it would take is one days delay at any of the borders and his attempt is over. Good luck to him, but I wonder what Julian Sayarer will have to say this time.


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## roadrash (3 Apr 2017)

Mark Beaumont.......That man does like a challenge


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## steveindenmark (3 Apr 2017)

It looks like he will be using his Koga Solicio Di2 again. The same bike he used on the Africa Challenge. I see he is going through Invercargill, the home of Burt Munro of Worlds fastest Indian fame.

Thats another jersey and book I will have to buy. Im glad he is using the same bike, because I like mine.


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## Tin Pot (3 Apr 2017)

Very interesting.

Just saw this on the Beeb.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39479896

I wonder if he'll send cars ahead to try to smooth things out?


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## currystomper (3 Apr 2017)

Does anyone know the schedule for the prequel ride around Britain as it would be great to give him a cheer

Ask and then you will find it!!! I think I've found the site http://www.artemisworldcycle.com


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## srw (4 Apr 2017)

currystomper said:


> Does anyone know the schedule for the prequel ride around Britain as it would be great to give him a cheer
> 
> Ask and then you will find it!!! I think I've found the site http://www.artemisworldcycle.com


That's an impressive website. A model in how to get publicity.


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## velovoice (4 Apr 2017)

srw said:


> A model in how to get publicity.


Funny you should say that. MB has done some impressive things but that phrase pretty much sums him up.


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## Tin Pot (4 Apr 2017)

I wonder how long you could do the journey and enjoy it, take in the sites and views, meet people etc.

If he's doing 75 days cycling plus 15 in airports etc...add another 50 and maybe another 75 for cycling at a more reasonable rate...215 days?


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## Supersuperleeds (4 Apr 2017)

[QUOTE 4748655, member: 9609"]where did he start from for his round britain ? see he is down to folkstone now, I will be a while before he heads down northumberland but I might go and wish him well. Is there a route map of his route ?[/QUOTE]

http://www.artemisworldcycle.com/the-challenge/around-britain-route-map/

Ignore that, I thought the days would link to a more detailed plan, they don't.


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## Beebo (4 Apr 2017)

srw said:


> That's an impressive website. A model in how to get publicity.


He was on BBC Newsround today when my kids were watching, so he is getting maximum publicity from as many sources as possible.


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## steveindenmark (4 Apr 2017)

[QUOTE 4748655, member: 9609"]where did he start from for his round britain ? see he is down to folkstone now, I will be a while before he heads down northumberland but I might go and wish him well. Is there a route map of his route ?[/QUOTE]
He set off from London and is going anti clockwise.


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## themosquitoking (4 Apr 2017)

Every time i click onto this thread i keep hoping it'll be about the ex-NME journalist.


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## currystomper (5 Apr 2017)

The RAAM record is 7:15:56 for 3,020 miles by
Christoph Strasser so round the UK in 15days should be doable by super humans (I think it would be a challenge for me on a motor bike)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Across_America


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## Ajax Bay (6 Apr 2017)

srw said:


> A model in how to get publicity.





velovoice said:


> Funny you should say that. MB has done some impressive things but that phrase pretty much sums him up.


To be (implicitly) criticised (not you @srw ) for getting publicity (as part of a sponsorship 'bargain') is harsh, imo, and smacks of an 'it's uncivilised to let people know what amazing feats of mental and physical endurance you plan or have done' attitude.
[QUOTE 4749626, member: 9609"]what does all that mean ?[/QUOTE]
Reading more will provide the answer which is:
"240 miles and riding for 16 hours a day
"his average day would see him on the bike at 04:00 and riding for four sets of four hours with half-hour breaks in between.
"I'll get off the bike at 9.30 at night, get some recovery, into bed and the alarm goes off at 3.30 and back on the bike."


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## velovoice (6 Apr 2017)

Ajax Bay said:


> To be (implicitly) criticised (not you @srw ) for getting publicity (as part of a sponsorship 'bargain') is harsh, imo, and smacks of an 'it's uncivilised to let people know what amazing feats of mental and physical endurance you plan or have done' attitude.
> 
> Reading more will provide the answer which is:
> "240 miles and riding for 16 hours a day
> ...


It seems what I said went completely over your head.


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## srw (6 Apr 2017)

I'm _praising_ him. I wish that all would-be record-breakers paid as much attention to publicity!

[edit]
I see that's recognised after an edit.


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## Crackle (6 Apr 2017)

If you want to make money or even a living out of doing adventure sports, then being your own best publicist is mandatory.


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## Ajax Bay (7 Apr 2017)

srw said:


> I'm _praising_ him.


I recognised that, hence my 'not you srw' (and my post was not edited btw). Apologise if I interpreted @velovoice 's post the wrong way, but I suggest that its bare text would suggest the criticism I inferred, "A model in how to get publicity . . . MB has done some impressive things but that phrase pretty much sums him up."
I suggest that his feats are pretty amazing and those achievements are who he is (sums him up): the publicity (with @Crackle here) is part and parcel of trying to make a living from it. He has done it really well, but no way can that aspect be said to "sum him up".


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## MarkF (7 Apr 2017)

The support makes the ride impossible to fire my imagination, I am not decrying the physical input but there are not much "what if's" are they? I love touring books/blogs and MrsF bought two books, Mark Beaumonts was a total bore, Julian Sayers was wonderful.


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## frank9755 (9 Apr 2017)

Mark Beaumont has been a pioneer for a lot of the long distance stuff that is going on now. 

He dusted the Round the World record off the shelf and, as a young kid straight out of university, got the organisation and sponsorship and backing together to enable him to do it. I agree that that, rather than the cycling, is his talent, but I wouldn't belittle that. Indeed, the same is true in many fields of human endeavour.

He's now having a go at doing it at over twice the speed he did the first time, and has got the backing in place for it. There are lots of people who could ride round the world at 240 miles per day, but not so many who would want to, and even fewer who would know how to put in all the hard work that Mark must have done to set up his attempt. Good luck to him - the cycling should be the easy part, and the fun part!


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## Trickedem (9 Apr 2017)

I have been reviewing his rides on Strava. Impressive stuff.


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## Crackle (9 Apr 2017)

His tracker is a bit crap. it doesn't refresh on my browser nor show his route, just draws some point to point lines. I'm rather spoilt by the IPWR one now.


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## frank9755 (9 Apr 2017)

Trickedem said:


> I have been reviewing his rides on Strava. Impressive stuff.



The thing to watch is his power number and see how well it holds up. He started at over 200W and held that for 3 days, but it went way down on day 4 for some reason. Maybe it was flatter and he just eased off, rather than riding faster. But, whatever, he got it back up to over 200 on day 5. If that is a level he can keep long term, that is good. If it falls down to the level he did on day 4, he may well struggle. 

He's chosen a flat route so road surfaces and wind will be the key challenges


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## steveindenmark (10 Apr 2017)

Crackle said:


> His tracker is a bit crap. it doesn't refresh on my browser nor show his route, just draws some point to point lines. I'm rather spoilt by the IPWR one now.



The TCR tracker is even better than the IPWR tracker.

The tracker that Mark is using on his site is awful. I am surprised he is using it at all, unless there is some logistical reason that he has to use it. maybe it is the only system that will operate in some of the places he will be riding.

The map on his Round Britain Route is equally as bad. I can se the plots where he intends to be each day. But there is no detail in it at all. In fact I have no idea where his route is. I have messaged him to ask what his route will be through East Yorkshire. The normal route Round Britain riders take ssem to forget that Hornsea and Withernsea are on the coast. They usually cut the corner off from Bridlington and head for Beverley and the Humber Bridge.

But Mark appears to be sticking quite close to the coast on this ride.

His web site is not as user friendly as his past sites.


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## nickyboy (10 Apr 2017)

The Strava power numbers are a bit odd. I've checked my rides and the "Weighted Average" watts I get is exactly the same as the "Average" watts in the Analysis section

But his are quite different. When he has a Weighted Average of 200W, his Average in the Analysis is quite a bit less...maybe 170W.

Is there something about Strava power calc I don't understand? Of course it's only an estimate but not sure why the two "averages" are different


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## Sea of vapours (10 Apr 2017)

I think the odd thing is that your power numbers are the same, not that his are different. Weighted average should be higher than simply average as it's a more sophisticated measurement. Rather than me paraphrase what it is, here's a summary I extracted from somewhere else (Stravistix help to be precise). 

'The _Estimated Weighted Power_ is basically the _Estimated Average Power_ given by Strava which has been normalized... Weighted Power or estimated is more meaningfull than _Average Power_. Why? While average power simply takes all of the samples of power and divides them by the number of samples, _Weighted Power_ uses a tricky weighting system to come up with a number that is more in line with the true physiological effort for your given activity. 

_Weighted Power_ is basically the power that you could have maintainted for the same physiological "cost" if your power output had been constant. 

_Weighted Power_ is calculated from an algorithm introduced by Dr. Andy Coggan to weight this variability according to its physiological difficulty.'

Strava's weighted average tends to be slightly different from that Stravistix produces so the formulae presumably vary slightly or, more probably, their use of the raw data varies.


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## nickyboy (11 Apr 2017)

Sea of vapours said:


> I think the odd thing is that your power numbers are the same, not that his are different. Weighted average should be higher than simply average as it's a more sophisticated measurement. Rather than me paraphrase what it is, here's a summary I extracted from somewhere else (Stravistix help to be precise).
> 
> 'The _Estimated Weighted Power_ is basically the _Estimated Average Power_ given by Strava which has been normalized... Weighted Power or estimated is more meaningfull than _Average Power_. Why? While average power simply takes all of the samples of power and divides them by the number of samples, _Weighted Power_ uses a tricky weighting system to come up with a number that is more in line with the true physiological effort for your given activity.
> 
> ...



At the risk of a thread derail I took a look at this. Seems WAP is only calculated when the rider has a power meter and it seems to calculate a higher number than the EAP. If a rider has no power meter (like me) then the power number on the ride summary is called the EAP and is the same as the "Average Power" that you can find in the ride analysis

So maybe if I got a power meter I will record higher watts and thus be much faster??


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## frank9755 (12 Apr 2017)

Maybe, but Mark has a power meter already and is planning to ride around the world, so I'll just watch his numbers!

With power (and many other things) 
it's best to focus on the trend not get hung up on the actual values, which are subject to all sorts of calibration errors. 

The delta between weighted and average power is particularly influenced by how much freewheeling you do, ie hilliness


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## psmiffy (12 Apr 2017)

He has 11 people supporting him and one camper van - where do they all sleep?


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## steveindenmark (12 Apr 2017)

psmiffy said:


> He has 11 people supporting him and one camper van - where do they all sleep?


tents ...possibly.


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## themosquitoking (12 Apr 2017)

psmiffy said:


> He has 11 people supporting him and one camper van - where do they all sleep?





steveindenmark said:


> tents ...possibly.


This is how i would do it.


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## Sea of vapours (12 Apr 2017)

Crackle said:


> His tracker is a bit crap. it doesn't refresh on my browser nor show his route, just draws some point to point lines. I'm rather spoilt by the IPWR one now.


Is it my imagination or has it improved? There is now a link at the bottom right of the tracker map to show a more detailed map and indeed it does, with a point every fifteen minutes. I don't recall that being there when I looked before. Anyway, it's good enough to show which roads he's _been _on at least, if not where he's going. Clearly, where he is now, it's rather easy to predict fairly accurately where he'll be going next for at least a couple of days. The points are clickable too. The main/summary tracker just shows a small subset of those fifteen minute interval points.
Detailed track map for Wednesday 12th.


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## steveindenmark (13 Apr 2017)

How do you get to go out and support him if you don't know what the route is?


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## steveindenmark (20 Apr 2017)

I messaged them three times to see if he was really going to to do a Round Britain ride and go through Hornsea and Withernsea on the East coast of Yorkshire. I didnt get a reply. He didnt. He cut the corner off like most Round Britain riders. So I could have guessed all I wanted. He still did it in 14 days. Well, the parts he rode anyway.

It would be so much better if they publish the route that he intends to ride. I am a fan of Marks. I have got the signed books and signed jersey. If you e mail either Mark or his mum replies promptly. But things seem to have shifted with the team he has now. Not to get a reply after sending three messages is something I would not expect from Marks team.


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## tatr (20 Apr 2017)

Maybe the amount of publicity has increased the amount of email they have to deal with? Not to mention tome raising funds for a support car - that's a lot of money and therefore time.


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## Sea of vapours (3 Jul 2017)

Just a bump of the thread to mention that he's started, yesterday. (Thanks to the TDF coverage for reminding me of that ...)

Tracker


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## tatr (3 Jul 2017)

You know you've set a serious cycling target when ex-pro riders say "that sounds hard".


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## Venod (5 Aug 2017)

Mark caught up with Ed Pratt yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/c/MrEdPratt


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## Shut Up Legs (9 Aug 2017)

My apologies if someone's already posted this, I realise it's already a month old:


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## Sea of vapours (9 Aug 2017)

There's been an accident which wrote off the motor home :-\ Seriously incompetent driving from the sound of it, with a vehicle driving into the back of it on a major road, whilst it was moving. No-one injured but that could have been an awful lot worse.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDC25EEQuy0&feature=youtu.be


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## Ajax Bay (10 Aug 2017)

I guess this is always a risk if you drive along a long, clear major road at 20mph. Better the careless/dangerous shunter ran into a following vehicle than the cyclist himself. But would have this driver hit a lone cyclist riding on the hard shoulder? Who knows? RIP Mike Hall.


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## jay clock (29 Aug 2017)

I have just been reading about the whole thing and am seriously impressed. He has done it solo the hard way so he has nothing to prove, but this is very different and hope he makes it safely and on time


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## Sea of vapours (12 Sep 2017)

The flight's at 1410 local time - so 1810 UK time - to Newark and onwards to Lisbon. I'm sure it'll be a relief to get the last flight done, those being the bits which are out of the control of him and the team. It must have been good to arrive at the airport with quite a few hours to spare on this flight too.


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## User482 (18 Sep 2017)

He's on track to finish today.


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## chriswoody (18 Sep 2017)

He's finished. Absolutely remarkable effort, 79 days to circumnavigate the planet.

Quick edit: the official record awarded by Guiness is 78 days,14hrs & 40 mins.

http://www.artemisworldcycle.com/news-from-the-road/


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## Supersuperleeds (18 Sep 2017)

Article on BBC website as well

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41308524


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## Cycleops (18 Sep 2017)

Fantastic achievement. Well done Mark.


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## ianrauk (18 Sep 2017)

Amazing stuff.


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## Sea of vapours (18 Sep 2017)

That was an excellent 79 days of dot-watching and his twice, or more, daily video updates have really helped to maintain interest and understanding of how the attempt was going. A thoroughly impressive achievement and one which I suspect will stand as the record for quite a while, given the cost and logistics challenge of having such comprehensive support.


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## roadrash (18 Sep 2017)

absolutely staggering , that's gonna take some beating


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## Fonze (18 Sep 2017)

Caught this on news today , amazing achievement that ..
ALso read about someone who did John OGroats to Lands End in I think it was 9 days , just over 100 miles each day .. for charity ..


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## Beebo (16 Jun 2018)

This may have been posted elsewhere but I thought I would add it to this thread too. 
Mark is clearly a versatile cyclist. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-44503724/mark-beaumont-beats-127-year-old-penny-farthing-record


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## Cycleops (16 Jun 2018)

Not only versatile but all round incredible guy.


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## Gez73 (5 Jul 2018)

We're going to see Mark in Manchester Waterstones in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. Saw him a few years back in Buxton after the Africa Solo ride. Will get new book and hopefully get it signed. Am willing to get a copy for someone who might be unlikely to be on the book tour schedule. @Cycleops? Gerry


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