Episode 55
Biking the Entire Western Hemisphere with Gary Clarke (Re-Release)
I met Gary in a Spanish class in Mexico City. I didn’t learn much Spanish, but I did make a friend who was riding a bicycle from Alaska to Patagonia. We talk about that, his old life on oil rigs, and eating guinea pig for breakfast.
Follow Gary Clarke on Instagram @gary_clarke
(This episode was originally released on 11/05/2025.)
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Thank you for listening, please do it again, but while eating guinea pig.
Onefjef is produced, edited & hosted by Jef Taylor.
Transcript
Hola, mis amigos y amigas.
Speaker:Es Jef.
Speaker:¿Qué onda?
Speaker:How are you?
Speaker:As always and forever, I hope you are thriving.
Speaker:I looked it up.
Speaker:There is unfortunately no word for thriving in Spanish.
Speaker:The closest I can get is like super bien or muy bien,
Speaker:but it's not really the same.
Speaker:It doesn't feel the same.
Speaker:And, uh, yeah, I'm not here to suggest that another word be
Speaker:added to the Spanish language.
Speaker:I am not here to suggest that because there are plenty, plenty of words.
Speaker:But if there is some sort of a list of words waiting to be added to the Spanish
Speaker:language, I hope that thrive is on it.
Speaker:Maybe thrivendo or thrivo or something.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:It's-- You figure it out.
Speaker:Anyway, this here episode is the last of the onefjef re-released episodes for
Speaker:the hiatus of twenty twenty-six, which means I have to stop procrastinating
Speaker:and start editing these interviews that I recorded a while back.
Speaker:I will.
Speaker:I must.
Speaker:I will.
Speaker:It has been nice to have a bit of, uh, downtime, a bit of a break,
Speaker:though, and it feels like it flew by.
Speaker:I mean, I've been in this new apartment for a month today, which is
Speaker:crazy to me, not necessarily to you.
Speaker:I mean, maybe to you, but to me, it feels like just yesterday
Speaker:that I moved in and enjoyed my terrace for the very first time.
Speaker:And now thirty days or thirty-one days have passed.
Speaker:Time it does, don't it?
Speaker:Yes, it do.
Speaker:And what episode might you be re-releasing this week, Jef?
Speaker:Well, I'm glad you asked.
Speaker:I will be re-releasing the interview with my friend Gary Clarke, who I met a
Speaker:year and a half ago when I first visited Mexico City, and who was at the time in
Speaker:the midst of an epic bike ride from Alaska to the southern tip of South America.
Speaker:This interview wasn't recorded until November of last year, though,
Speaker:at which point he was in Peru.
Speaker:And now he's back home in the UK, still thriving, of course.
Speaker:There's really no way to describe what Gary did as anything other than,
Speaker:like, amazing, incredible, etc. But Gary doesn't really see it that way.
Speaker:He just wanted to travel, and he decided that a bike was the best way to do it.
Speaker:He talks about that and many more things in the interview that follows.
Speaker:He's a super interesting guy who's had an interesting life both on
Speaker:a bike and not on a bike, and you're gonna enjoy this interview.
Speaker:If you've already heard it, you'll enjoy it more the second time.
Speaker:I insist.
Speaker:I insist.
Speaker:So my friends, here is my interview with Gary Clarke
Speaker:recorded on November 3rd, 2025.
Speaker:I, um, ordered breakfast the other day and, uh, all I heard was, uh,
Speaker:fritter, and up until then I'd had chicken fritters, so I thought,
Speaker:"This, yeah." And, uh, I ended up with quarter of a, um, fried guinea pig.
Speaker:And I was like, "Yeah." Right, but they eat a lot of guinea pig down there.
Speaker:They like guinea pig.
Speaker:Yeah, they love it.
Speaker:Did you try it?
Speaker:Love it?
Speaker:Well, I had to.
Speaker:It was, uh, basically what I ordered that breakfast.
Speaker:Yeah, there's not a lot of meat on it, surprisingly.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:Was it good?
Speaker:Uh, no.
Speaker:So, uh, yeah, most of it ended up on the, um, side dish.
Speaker:This is episode 23 of onefjef.
Speaker:The number 23 has an uncanny way of showing up in
Speaker:science, nature, and mystery.
Speaker:Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in their DNA, and the Earth is
Speaker:tilted at about 23 degrees on its axis, giving us seasons.
Speaker:It's said that blood takes roughly 23 seconds to circulate through the body,
Speaker:and the 23rd hour, 11:00 PM, marks the final hour before a new day begins.
Speaker:These patterns help give rise to the 23 enigma, the belief that
Speaker:this number appears suspiciously often and carries hidden meaning.
Speaker:Hello, my friends.
Speaker:How are you?
Speaker:Good?
Speaker:I hope that's a yes.
Speaker:If not, keep listening.
Speaker:This podcast is about to make you feel better.
Speaker:Why, you ask?
Speaker:Because today's guest is Gary Clarke.
Speaker:Gary Clarke is a British long-distance cyclist currently
Speaker:attempting to ride around the world.
Speaker:Right now, he's pedaling from Alaska all the way to the southern tip of
Speaker:Chile, continuing a journey that's already taken him across Australia,
Speaker:through Southeast Asia, India, Japan, and into the mountains of Nepal.
Speaker:Before turning to life on the road, Clarke worked on offshore oil rigs and platforms,
Speaker:a career he left behind to pursue a slower, more deliberate way of seeing
Speaker:the world from the saddle of a bicycle.
Speaker:Sometimes you meet a person and you just feel like you'll know them forever.
Speaker:And that was how I felt after I met Gary in Mexico City earlier this year.
Speaker:We were in a Spanish class together, which was incidentally the same class
Speaker:where I met the couple who I had dinner with in St. Louis on my road
Speaker:trip, episode nine, if you're curious.
Speaker:I didn't learn much in that class.
Speaker:I don't think Gary did either.
Speaker:But I met some great people, and I'll take great people over
Speaker:knowledge any day of the week.
Speaker:We had a fairly immediate connection, Gary and I. We share a similar
Speaker:sense of humor and perspective on life and the way the world works.
Speaker:And he's just a really likable guy.
Speaker:We did a bunch of sightseeing together, ate some amazing food together, and
Speaker:I actually ended up letting him crash for a couple nights in the extra
Speaker:bedroom in my Airbnb, so we could go on this amazing hot air balloon
Speaker:ride over the Teotihuacan pyramids.
Speaker:The interesting thing about Gary is that he barely talked about his bike trip.
Speaker:Most of the people in the Spanish class we were in didn't even know that he was doing
Speaker:this until I mentioned it, and then they were like, "Whoa, really?" And I think
Speaker:it's because Gary doesn't really think what he's doing is all that remarkable.
Speaker:It's just something he likes to do, so he's doing it.
Speaker:But it is remarkable, as I'm sure most of you would agree.
Speaker:So I'm grateful that he was willing to take some time out from this epic trip
Speaker:of his to talk to me from the guest house he was staying at in Huaraz, Peru.
Speaker:And just FYI, due to Peruvian internet issues, uh, we had to have
Speaker:this conversation over WhatsApp, so the sound quality isn't perfect.
Speaker:But you'll get over it.
Speaker:You probably won't even notice it.
Speaker:Or maybe you wouldn't have noticed it had I not said anything, and
Speaker:now that I have said something, you'll be listening for it.
Speaker:So maybe just disregard.
Speaker:Thank you as always and forever to my new Patreon subscribers.
Speaker:Actually, there's just one since the last episode, but everything
Speaker:helps, so thank you to my new and continuing Patreon subscribers
Speaker:for your support of the podcast.
Speaker:I'll be putting some photos of Gary and I in Mexico City in the
Speaker:Patreon feed for your enjoyment.
Speaker:And there's another bonus episode for you on the way.
Speaker:If you yourself would like some visual aids to enhance your experience of
Speaker:this podcast or if you'd just like to help support the show, please do go to
Speaker:patreon.com/onefjef and sign up for as little as five dollars a month, and you
Speaker:too will get access to all the amazing bonus content I've put out there.
Speaker:And you'll get street cred.
Speaker:patreon.com/onefjef.
Speaker:And whether you're a Patreon subscriber or not, I appreciate you
Speaker:and your magical ears, which you are using right now to hear my voice.
Speaker:I don't know much about how ears work, but the little I do know leads me to
Speaker:believe that it's kind of miraculous, this ability to hear, and I'm glad you're
Speaker:using this miracle to listen to onefjef.
Speaker:So thank you for listening.
Speaker:Thank you for being here.
Speaker:Here's Gary Clarke talking to me from a guesthouse in Huaraz, Peru
Speaker:Yeah, I messed around on, um, ChatGPT.
Speaker:I had to get, um, something together for an insurance company.
Speaker:And then I, um, managed to go out, get some, um, camping gas and a few
Speaker:supplies ready for the off tomorrow.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, I think this will actually work.
Speaker:It's not ideal, but, uh, Peruvian internet is not known for
Speaker:its high-quality connections.
Speaker:Absolutely, mate.
Speaker:We'll, we'll, we'll work round it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So Gary Clarke, it's so good to talk to you again.
Speaker:It's been, uh, what?
Speaker:About eight months or so since we met.
Speaker:It has been, Jef, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Very good memories.
Speaker:Yeah, indeed.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So Gary and I met, uh, I was in Mexico earlier this year, and we met, um, in a
Speaker:Spanish class actually, um, that wasn't a very good Spanish class as we've, Gary
Speaker:and I have joked about many, many times.
Speaker:I forget, I forget what the one joke was about.
Speaker:This is better than that thing.
Speaker:We just wanted to know how to order tacos, so.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And instead- We needed phrases.
Speaker:Yeah, and we were getting this, that, and the… Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:We were getting- But- … some more advanced things.
Speaker:Um, so, so yeah, it wasn't the best class in terms of learning Spanish, but in terms
Speaker:of, like, making friends, it was great.
Speaker:Uh, and then me, me and Gary went on a magical air balloon ride in Mexico by
Speaker:the pyramids outside of Mexico City.
Speaker:That was kind of an amazing day, actually, and we didn't die.
Speaker:We didn't die, and it was magnificent.
Speaker:The views was incredible.
Speaker:Uh, and I was amazed how many balloons they put up in the air.
Speaker:Yeah, there was one that crashed recently too, I saw.
Speaker:Um- Was there?
Speaker:Yeah, I think I sent you- Yeah … I thought I sent you the link, but yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah, somebody died, so, uh, at least we didn't- Oh, okay … didn't, we didn't,
Speaker:we didn't get on that one, so that's good.
Speaker:That was good.
Speaker:That is always a positive when you make it back.
Speaker:So where are you right now?
Speaker:Where do I find you right now?
Speaker:I'm in Huaraz, which is the, um, basically the climbing and high peak
Speaker:hiking sort of, um, epicenter for the high peaks around this area.
Speaker:What, what big city is it near?
Speaker:Is near anything I would know?
Speaker:Well, it's close… It's inland from Lima, really.
Speaker:Lima being on the coast.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And then Huaraz is, um, pretty much as soon as you see the, um,
Speaker:snow-capped mountains, um, this is in the foothills of that.
Speaker:So it's pretty.
Speaker:It is stunning, yeah.
Speaker:It's lovely.
Speaker:Um, and there's a lot of, uh, international, uh, backpackers and,
Speaker:uh, people that have come probably specifically for the climbs.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:So, um, tell me, I mean, I mean, I know, but, like, tell my listeners,
Speaker:uh, about what, what, what kind of trip you're on here, your biking trip here.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I basically, uh, COVID, um, put a good couple of years gap in between
Speaker:my five-year riding around the world.
Speaker:Um, and, um, to look for a decent, uh, start to finish ride, I decided to, um,
Speaker:pick the Alaska to Patagonia, um, Ushuaia in Ar- Argentina route, which really
Speaker:is an unbroken cycle ride continuous through the, uh, North and South and
Speaker:Central Americas up until you get to Panama and the Darien Gap, which you
Speaker:either boat or you, in my case, fly over.
Speaker:Oh, you took a plane.
Speaker:I was wondering.
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:I was… Yeah, I was the wrong time of year, Jeff.
Speaker:I basically, if I was a little bit sooner, um, the sun would've been out, and, um, it
Speaker:probably would be quite a pleasant ride.
Speaker:Uh, for my time of year, it was just gonna be a choppy, uh, rather unpleasant-
Speaker:Mm … I hope this ends- Right, vomit
Speaker:sort of ride.
Speaker:Right, vomit inducing as they say.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Um, I, uh… So you started in, where in Alaska did you start, and when was that?
Speaker:Yeah, I started up in, um, the northernmost, um, accessible part of, um,
Speaker:Alaska, which is Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Uh, which is, yeah, is pretty much, um, only really accessible because,
Speaker:uh, of the oil that is up there.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:And then you cycle down a supply line which pretty much shadows the
Speaker:pipeline running from Deadhorse down to Valdez, um, which is where it's,
Speaker:um, shipped out all the time to.
Speaker:Right, the giant pipeline and all that.
Speaker:And when- Yeah … when was, when was that?
Speaker:When did you start?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, I started about as early as you can in the season, which was
Speaker:around about the 9th of June.
Speaker:Uh, and I was about the third person out that year.
Speaker:The 9th of June of last year.
Speaker:Of last year, yes.
Speaker:Of 2024.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:And then you're planning to get to where by the end of the trip?
Speaker:Where's the, where's the final destination?
Speaker:Final destination is the southern tip down by, uh, uh, Tierra del Fuego.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Tierra del Fuego.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, and Ushuaia is the, um, the, the, the name of the town.
Speaker:They also use it, um, uh, for a destination or a leaving point for
Speaker:the, um, Antarctic, um, cruises.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:And when do you-- How far from there are you?
Speaker:When do you think you'll get there?
Speaker:Well, I did have a quick look.
Speaker:I'm, uh, I'm roughly about 7,500 kilometers- Jesus … which, um,
Speaker:yeah, even with the Andes in, in between, it's gonna be a good, um,
Speaker:maybe January/February, um- Right, but it'll be summer though, so.
Speaker:It will.
Speaker:Hopefully, it starts getting warmer.
Speaker:The only thing is the, um, winds, which- Right … hope- I'm kinda hoping are in
Speaker:my favor going, uh, from north to south.
Speaker:I mean, I had a-- I dated a woman who lived in Chile for 13
Speaker:years in, um, what city was it?
Speaker:It was, uh, Punta Arenas, which is right down there in Patagonia.
Speaker:And her big-- She's triggered by the wind now because it's so w-
Speaker:it's like a constant gale-force wind down there according to her.
Speaker:So just preparing you, Gary, because it may be- Yeah
Speaker:it may be windy.
Speaker:Much appreciated, Jeff.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:No, um, I have ridden the reverse, um, from Ushuaia to, um,
Speaker:funnily enough, this town, Araz.
Speaker:Uh, and then I, um, returned and got back to Lima and then
Speaker:flew into, uh, New Zealand.
Speaker:Uh, that was the first part of my ride.
Speaker:Oh, so you've already r- kind of done this part of the trip, but just backwards?
Speaker:I have.
Speaker:This is roughly as far north as I got, um, 10 years ago.
Speaker:So this is part of a, what?
Speaker:A bigger, a grander, a grander scheme of g- biking across the entire world?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I started really, I was gonna end in Australia, um, 'cause I did go
Speaker:through the points system, uh, to enter and emigrate to Australia.
Speaker:Um, however, during the ride, I, um, realized that it was
Speaker:such a fantastic lifestyle.
Speaker:Um, and I got less and less, uh, interested in going back to my former job,
Speaker:which I, you know, prior to the cycling I was, um, it was quite important to me.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:So when did you decide to do this, um, incredible biking
Speaker:around the world to a degree?
Speaker:It was a good 10 years ago.
Speaker:Um, and I set off with the intention of it being a, um,
Speaker:six-month, um, cycle ride basically.
Speaker:I'd saved South America as a big trip.
Speaker:Uh, so I looked at, um… I was working off shore at the time, and,
Speaker:um, I was looking at it and I thought, well, there's no train routes.
Speaker:It'll all be by buses, which I didn't really fancy.
Speaker:And then I thought about a motorbike, uh, but I've got no real history of
Speaker:riding a motorbike or maintaining one, and I thought that sounds
Speaker:like a disaster waiting to happen.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, uh, I basically trialed a fold-up bike in Burma for three weeks, having
Speaker:flown into Bangkok and bought one.
Speaker:Uh, and, uh, yeah, I was like, this is doable.
Speaker:So then, um, it was just gonna be a six-month cycle
Speaker:trip, uh, back to Australia.
Speaker:Uh, but by the time I got there I thought I'd just as well cycle round Australia
Speaker:whilst I've got the, uh, the visa.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Uh, and then during the, those two years, uh, I was like, yeah, Japan might be nice.
Speaker:Uh, and then I… Southeast Asia, uh, Northern India, uh, Kazakhstan,
Speaker:the rest of the St- You've done all these, you've biked across all
Speaker:these countries, all these places?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Did you train before you started this whole adventure
Speaker:or did you just start doing it?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, um, I wasn't much of a cyclist.
Speaker:Um, uh, and probably even when I'm not cycling around the world, I…
Speaker:Cycling's not something I, um, think, "Oh, I'll get on the bike." Huh.
Speaker:Um, so I just find it the best way to travel.
Speaker:The right pace, you see things, you interact with people.
Speaker:Um, you're not trying to just get from A to B and then do stuff when you get to B.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Your journey starts when you set off in the morning.
Speaker:Uh, you get some wonderful camping spots.
Speaker:Um, yeah, there's a lot of positives.
Speaker:It does keep you fit.
Speaker:Obviously it's good for your mental and, um, physical health.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:So yeah, I, um, hadn't done a great deal, but I was trying to keep myself a
Speaker:little bit active on the treadmill and a few things whilst working offshore.
Speaker:Otherwise you can, um, you can get a bit drawn into 16, 17-hour days.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, and a lot of that can be in and around a computer.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So- Tell me about it.
Speaker:Um- Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, so, so you just have been biking and then wherever you feel like
Speaker:kinda stopping, if you're like in the middle of nowhere, you just
Speaker:pitch a tent and, and set up and, and sleep there, wherever it is?
Speaker:Well, some, some countries favor or lean to it a little bit better than others.
Speaker:Some, uh, the Colombia and Ecuador, for example, of j- a,
Speaker:a lot of it was, um, fenced in.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So if you get to that sort of s- nor- um, the North Island
Speaker:in New Zealand was the same.
Speaker:Um, I don't wanna jump over a fence to put a tent up.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:So you try to get, you know, you try to get to either, um, a designated, um,
Speaker:camp spot or, um, y- y- you look for accommodation, which was affordable,
Speaker:obviously, for Ecuador and Colombia.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I mean, it's a very inexpensive way to travel, I'd imagine.
Speaker:You know, you're, you're not paying for any of the buses, uh- Yeah
Speaker:trains or whichever else.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Uh, there's no fuel involved.
Speaker:Um, you know, y- you eat cheaper probably than you would even if you
Speaker:were, um, you know, backpacking.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:So, um- For sure … you know, the h- the costs are definitely kept down.
Speaker:I mean, are you tired?
Speaker:Uh, funnily enough, for the first time, uh, in the, um, years that I've been
Speaker:riding, my legs played up when I got to, to the south of, uh, Colombia.
Speaker:Ah.
Speaker:Uh, and that was a f- yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, that was a f- that was a good eye-opener.
Speaker:It made me focus on how much I was doing per day.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, the hills are no joke.
Speaker:Um, obviously when you're a little bit younger, you don't
Speaker:have to worry about these things.
Speaker:Sure, sure.
Speaker:But, uh, nutrition, um, fluids, uh, so yeah, I've, uh- How old are you now, Gary?
Speaker:Uh, 55 now.
Speaker:Unbelievable.
Speaker:Is this the longest trip you've done?
Speaker:The previous one started off that it was gonna be six months and ended
Speaker:up five years, so- Oh, right … um- But that was with some breaks.
Speaker:You were, you were not biking the entire time.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:No, no.
Speaker:The, the… In fairness, you've, you've gotta, you've gotta pace it,
Speaker:otherwise, um, you do mentally, uh, find yourself a little bit under it.
Speaker:It's, um, you've gotta get the balance, otherwise it can become a bit of a,
Speaker:um- Like a slog … bit of a task.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like a slog.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, yeah, you stopped in Mexico City for two or three weeks
Speaker:or something, didn't you?
Speaker:I mean, that you were there for a while.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:The other one with that, Jef, is basically I was … Once I'd got out
Speaker:of North America, I felt as if I was trying to chase the, um, seasons.
Speaker:I couldn't start in Alaska- Right … too soon.
Speaker:I had to get over, um, Colorado before it started to snow.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You know, and then basically by the time I got to the, the Baja, I knew I could
Speaker:slow down in Central America- Right
Speaker:to try to time it to get to Patagonia in their summertime.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And how many miles do you think that'll be the whole tr- this whole trip?
Speaker:Do you have any idea?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't, no.
Speaker:I d- I don't really plan much, Jef, really.
Speaker:I just, um, it … I quite like the spontaneity of, um, you
Speaker:know, turning up to places that you don't have a clue about.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Um, I have a little bit of an idea of the route.
Speaker:You generally know, you know, roughly where you're heading, but that can
Speaker:change, you know, within a couple of days.
Speaker:So yeah, I, I'm, I'm basically gearing up now for a route that's
Speaker:called the, um, Peruvian, I think they call it Great Divide.
Speaker:Um- Uh-huh … which is something that, uh, some intrepid, um, people
Speaker:beforehand, in fact, that they were called the Pikes on Bikes.
Speaker:Um, it's now been, uh, designated by bikepacking.com, and, um, it's one
Speaker:of their, uh, main South American routes, so it- Oh, well, that's good.
Speaker:At least it'll be made for bikes.
Speaker:I think that's probably … I would, I would get sketched out because I don't
Speaker:like sharing the, the road with cars.
Speaker:It freaks me out.
Speaker:I feel like I'm gonna get hit by a car.
Speaker:That can happen, Jef.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:You do, though, you do hear of, um, cyclists out and about that,
Speaker:um, unfortunately do get hit, and unfortunately motorists, um- Don't
Speaker:consider that you've been riding for seven or eight hours that day
Speaker:and your legs ain't very good.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, they presume you're just riding around a corner.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And what kind of, uh… What are you, what are you taking with you?
Speaker:What do you have on your bike?
Speaker:Yeah, one of the first things when you first set off is you generally over-pack.
Speaker:You take a lot of nice to haves.
Speaker:There were, yeah, extra couple of tops and a few other things.
Speaker:So once you've been out a while, you streamline that down, 'cause
Speaker:as soon as you hit the hills- Right
Speaker:every little T-shirt- Right … you can feel.
Speaker:I carry, uh, and again, you sort of do your homework, uh, to select
Speaker:decent quality stuff that packs down small volume and is light.
Speaker:Um, so yeah, camping gear, sleeping stuff, cooking stuff, warm gear, uh,
Speaker:warm clothes, w- uh, wet clothes.
Speaker:Well, s- sorry, wet weather clothes.
Speaker:And, uh, obviously something for maintenance on the bike.
Speaker:Sure, sure.
Speaker:How many flats have you gotten on this trip?
Speaker:Like, a load, actually.
Speaker:I was doing fine in North America.
Speaker:I had a couple of, um, random ones- Right … uh, that you th- you think,
Speaker:"Oh, that's a bit unfortunate." Yeah.
Speaker:But then when I got to the Baja, I, uh, I was starting to pick up
Speaker:quite a few, um, thorns, basically.
Speaker:I think they're goatheads, they call them.
Speaker:Even, uh, Arizona, maybe.
Speaker:Uh- Right … and once it starts, it seems as if you just, um,
Speaker:end up on a, a bad run of them.
Speaker:So- Uh-huh … you're still, you know, you're constantly
Speaker:taking that back wheel off.
Speaker:But, um, since Mexico, and in fact just after, I think I'd just had it
Speaker:done, Jef, when I came around to yours before we did the, um, balloon trip.
Speaker:I went, um, tubeless.
Speaker:And, um- Oh, right.
Speaker:Right, right, right … the w- that had been going fantastic
Speaker:up until, where did I get to?
Speaker:Somewhere in Colombia.
Speaker:Plenty of glass on the road.
Speaker:Uh, just happened to hit a, uh… Well, the tire was getting
Speaker:a little bit thin as well.
Speaker:Um, and then it was just too big to plug.
Speaker:So, uh, we put a tube in it, and, uh, it was a new tire, so.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:And, uh, touch wood, been good ever since.
Speaker:So have there been… Like, what have been some of the highlights
Speaker:of this, this bike trip itself?
Speaker:Have there been anything, any, any, like… What's, what's stood out in
Speaker:terms of even e- either experiences or places or whatever it is?
Speaker:Any, uh, any takeaways?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Alaska scenery is stunning.
Speaker:Um, you get a, a north, uh, what was it?
Speaker:British Columbia.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:A lot of river riding.
Speaker:You're, you know, the road is alongside a river.
Speaker:That's always beautiful.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:The ride down from North America, which is, uh, the one they race, just so varied.
Speaker:I w- I don't know what I anticipated for that ride, but
Speaker:it just changed within the day.
Speaker:So, you know, it's the sort of thing when you're riding, you're looking for.
Speaker:You don't want- Unfortunately, like a bit of Northern Australia or then
Speaker:there's a stretch in Argentina heading south, which is, um, the Pampas.
Speaker:It's just the same hour after hour, day after day.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:So, um, you know, if y- if you get the variety, uh, Baja was fantastic in Mexico.
Speaker:Mexico itself was, um, a great surprise.
Speaker:I really didn't know what to expect there.
Speaker:Central America have been, uh, El Salvador had fantastic friendly people.
Speaker:Um, there were wonderful beaches obviously through there.
Speaker:Colombia was a treat.
Speaker:Ecuador, um, again, lovely people.
Speaker:Peru is just stunning.
Speaker:I came up through a gorge the other day.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Uh, hadn't expected it.
Speaker:I came down the gorge as the opposite side on a different river, and I
Speaker:thought that was absolutely amazing.
Speaker:And then I think the reason that it was so slow coming back up the gorge was r-
Speaker:stopping so often to take the, um, photos.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:Amazing.
Speaker:Have there been any, um…
Speaker:I mean, have people been generally nice as, that you've met?
Speaker:Have there, has there been any animosity or is it generally mostly like just super
Speaker:friendly curious people that you've met?
Speaker:I think that's one of the absolute advantages, Jef, with
Speaker:the, um, riding with a bicycle.
Speaker:For some reason you're just more approachable.
Speaker:I think you're less of a threat- Right … or whatever.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I don't, you know, I th- I don't know what it is.
Speaker:Um, people are more curious.
Speaker:You're also in more remote places.
Speaker:I generally find if you're out in the countryside of pretty much
Speaker:any country, people are wonderful.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:It's the city, you know.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's the cities where people are condensed.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:There's, uh, a lot more, uh, alcohol and drug, um, in the cities, more traffic.
Speaker:Um, people are stressed.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And people are looking for variety out in the country and, you know, some strange
Speaker:British guy comes biking down the street.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Especially some of it's like, "What on earth are you doing here?"
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:Um, the other bit is, is being English, the ability to, um, or push yourself
Speaker:to learn a foreign language is, um, unfortunately, uh, a little lacking.
Speaker:When you meet other Europeans or whomever, uh, that speak two or three languages,
Speaker:it does, um, make you feel a bit humble.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:How's the Spanish going?
Speaker:Is it coming along well, Gary?
Speaker:That was timely.
Speaker:Um, I'm comfortable enough, um, that I can sort of get by.
Speaker:People understand, um, that, uh, you know, you only speak poco español.
Speaker:Si.
Speaker:Si.
Speaker:Si.
Speaker:The, um, uh… But, uh, it was, uh, evident when I, um, uh, ordered the,
Speaker:um, breakfast the other day, and, uh, all I heard was, uh, fritter.
Speaker:And up until then I'd had chicken fritters, so I thought
Speaker:this, yeah, for breakfast.
Speaker:And, uh, I ended up with quarter of a, um, fried guinea pig.
Speaker:And I was like, "Yeah." Right.
Speaker:But they eat a lot of guinea pig down there.
Speaker:They love guinea pig.
Speaker:Yeah, they love it.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Did you try it?
Speaker:How was it?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I had to.
Speaker:It was, uh, basically what I ordered that breakfast.
Speaker:Yeah, there's not a lot of meat on it- Right
Speaker:surprisingly.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:I think, um, probably they're much the same as trying to eat a parrot.
Speaker:Um, but, uh, they, uh, yeah, it's funny.
Speaker:I mean, it's ironic they call it a, it's ironic they call it a pig because
Speaker:there's really not a lot of meat on there.
Speaker:There's not a lot.
Speaker:I couldn't find much at all.
Speaker:I ended up eating the skin, I think it was.
Speaker:But, um, yeah, they sell… They obviously eat guinea pig, but they sell rabbits.
Speaker:So, um, yeah- Huh … I find it quite unusual.
Speaker:Was, was it good?
Speaker:Uh, no.
Speaker:Fortunately, it came with swede.
Speaker:So, uh, yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Most of it ended up on the, um, side dish.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So no guinea pig.
Speaker:I mean, for breakfast that seems a little bit much.
Speaker:I mean- Yeah.
Speaker:I didn't- … for any, any meal really, but breakfast it's a lot.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, that's what I was thinking.
Speaker:I didn't think I could go too wrong with a breakfast, but then all of a
Speaker:sudden I'm like, yeah, you need to, um, you need to start thinking about it.
Speaker:But, um, yeah.
Speaker:There's, you know, there's been other soups and things that you get, um, uh,
Speaker:kidneys or, um, some liver in there.
Speaker:Uh, you're basically gonna- Have to consume some offal
Speaker:somewhere along the line Yeah.
Speaker:And a lot of time it's not bad.
Speaker:Like, honestly, like they've been cooking it like that for so long that they're
Speaker:able to make it into some… Like when I lived in Korea, I had a lot of stuff
Speaker:I didn't even know what I was eating.
Speaker:And, uh, but it was good.
Speaker:I made… Sometimes I just don't even, didn't even wanna know what I
Speaker:was eating because, like, it's better not to know that you're eating, you
Speaker:know, whatever brains or whatever.
Speaker:Um- But it was good.
Speaker:But that was exactly the process, innit?
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:It's, uh… And you see others that are eating it, you think,
Speaker:um, basically sometimes it's like, well, don't even chew it.
Speaker:You basically it's, um, it's gonna be what your main meal is today.
Speaker:You're gonna, um, you get it down.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:When in Rome, as it, as it were.
Speaker:Have there been any profound, um, issues that you've had, like aside
Speaker:from the, the flat tires and so forth and, and I don't know, have
Speaker:there been any like, like issues of getting caught camping somewhere?
Speaker:Whatever it is, you know, um, on this trip or any other trip really.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I think, um, I'd anticipated a few more border issues.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, y- you know, which is in the back of your mind, but that's probably
Speaker:'cause you've l- read too much, um, news or you've listened to too many-
Speaker:Sure … people's opinions that haven't actually been through there.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The only time that I've ever really had an issue with camping, uh, was when I was
Speaker:walking around the south coast of England.
Speaker:There was one guy walking a dog that moved me on.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Uh, other than that, anywhere else in the world has been fine.
Speaker:It's interesting though, once you get… Like my, I was struck by how much I liked
Speaker:Mexico City particularly, and Mexico in general, and it was surprising as
Speaker:an American going there because like the media, and I'm sure in the UK too,
Speaker:the media just tells you this is a terrifying place, uh, full of d- drug
Speaker:cartels and all these kind of things.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And certainly there are those things there.
Speaker:But I found it to be one of the friendliest countries
Speaker:that I've been to in my life.
Speaker:And, uh, the people were just… I never felt any real meanness by anybody.
Speaker:And when I tell people this, when I, when I got back and I tell people this, they're
Speaker:still skeptical 'cause the media- Yeah
Speaker:all they tell you is how terrible, you know, uh, border problems,
Speaker:blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:It's like they wanna divide us, Gary.
Speaker:It's like they want us to hate each other.
Speaker:It's weird.
Speaker:Or fear each other or something, you know?
Speaker:Oh, totally.
Speaker:Totally.
Speaker:There's a, there's definitely an agenda with the, uh, with the news.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um- Yeah.
Speaker:But like you say, I was coming in and, and definitely borders and/or
Speaker:for some reason train stations, you know, they can be a bit sketchy.
Speaker:But, um- Yes, for sure I, uh, did get warned a couple of times,
Speaker:um, as I was leaving, uh, America to be careful certainly in
Speaker:around, uh, some parts of Mexico.
Speaker:Sure thing.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, y- and, um, you know, it does, um, raise the concern.
Speaker:Uh, and then you're just absolutely mystified where it comes from
Speaker:when you actually get there.
Speaker:You think these people are going out their way to look after me.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:It's almost- Sure … it reminds me of, like, the drug war when I was a kid.
Speaker:They would just say, "Say no to drugs."
Speaker:Ronald Reagan would say, "Say no to drugs." Like, all the drugs.
Speaker:So as soon as you ended up, you grew up under that, and you smoke a
Speaker:little weed, and you're like, "Oh, I'm fine." Then you're like, "Oh,
Speaker:maybe this is all bullshit." Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's a great metaphor.
Speaker:And before you know it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then you're on, then you're, then you're shooting up heroin before
Speaker:you know it, and then, yeah.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:Um, which is all we did in Mexico City, me and you.
Speaker:Boy, those were the times, weren't they, Gary?
Speaker:All that, all that amazing Mexican heroin we shoveled- Yeah.
Speaker:Well, the thing is that you- … down my … yeah.
Speaker:I'm not sure we actually were on a balloon.
Speaker:It just felt like it.
Speaker:And yeah, it was, um, best, fair.
Speaker:You know, Mexico was a fantastic place with lovely people.
Speaker:I, I would go back there and, and ride a different route, see more of it.
Speaker:It was fantastic.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I wanna see more.
Speaker:I'm go- actually going back to Mexico City in, at the beginning
Speaker:of December, um, for a week.
Speaker:Oh, nice one.
Speaker:I'm excited about that one.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So you said the initial reason for the trip was not really to bike around
Speaker:the world, it was just to, to travel around the world, was the initial idea,
Speaker:and you just kind of fell into biking as a, as a result of experimentation?
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely, Jef.
Speaker:It was ba- I'd done a lot of, um… I travel with my work and I also
Speaker:done a lot of, um, traveling anyway.
Speaker:Um, I'd done the backpacking thing.
Speaker:Uh, I'd done various other, you know, ways of getting around.
Speaker:Uh, and I was not, I was a, I was a bit older than I wanted to be if I was
Speaker:gonna be in a bus doing the backpacking.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:So, um- Yeah, yeah, yeah … you know, I thought, "Oh, it's the motorbike option."
Speaker:Um, and then I really did think, uh, it's a broken leg at best, uh- Right
Speaker:for me on a motorbike.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So, uh, I looked at, um, my ne- next, um, off period when I was, uh, f- three
Speaker:weeks on, three weeks off, I think it was.
Speaker:S- uh, well, I mean, four weeks on, four weeks off.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And, um, I looked at doing something with Burma, um, Myanmar, that had pretty
Speaker:much just sort of opened up since, um, before it was, uh, quite restricted- Yeah
Speaker:and, uh, still under military control, I think.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I'd sort of mentally avoided it rather than, you know, dipping my toe in it.
Speaker:But this, it, it opened up and, uh, I looked at, um, a mountain
Speaker:bike, uh, tour for two weeks, and it was just s- so expensive.
Speaker:I just thought, "This is, this is crazy." They had the route, the itinerary on
Speaker:the website, and, uh, I just looked at, um, how to get a bike to, um, Bangkok.
Speaker:And then it was like, "Why not just buy a fold-up one in Bangkok, fly it into,
Speaker:um, Yangon, and, uh, ride to Mandalay?" And, uh, yeah, it was way… You know,
Speaker:obviously it looks like a clown bike.
Speaker:Sure, sure.
Speaker:You've got, um, 18-inch wheels.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Kids loved it.
Speaker:I'd actually like to see you riding that, actually.
Speaker:I think it'd be funny.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But it's a shame.
Speaker:But so did the kids.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So did the kids.
Speaker:I spent the first, um, 12 hours riding it one-handed just waving
Speaker:at these kids running alongside.
Speaker:You should've gotten a horn.
Speaker:One, like, one of those, "Ah, ah, ah." Yeah.
Speaker:I should have had the red nose and the shoes.
Speaker:Right, red nose and everything, right.
Speaker:Uh, throwing out candies.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:But, um- Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Next time.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I w- yeah.
Speaker:Square wheels maybe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh-huh.
Speaker:Uh-huh.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Then, um- Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I'll videotape that.
Speaker:I'll come out with a video camera for that one, Gary.
Speaker:I promise.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:We'll do a couple of weeks for that.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:So, uh, yeah.
Speaker:And then was convinced.
Speaker:And then basically, yeah, did a little bit of research on getting
Speaker:a bike, uh, some of the gear.
Speaker:And, um, yeah, basically my contract came to an end.
Speaker:Uh, I chose not to extend it and then basically flew into Ushuaia
Speaker:and rode up to Peru in the opposite direction from what I'm doing now.
Speaker:And you were like, "Yeah, this works.
Speaker:I like this." Yeah. It was, it was definitely doable. And then, like I say,
Speaker:within that first six months, I'm like, "Yeah, I don't need to s- " And basically
Speaker:I stopped, um, looking for new contracts.
Speaker:It just basically, I was still getting offers coming in, and it just sort of
Speaker:like, I just dwindled away from it.
Speaker:And then all of a sudden it was like, "Actually, do I really
Speaker:need to, um- Go back And you were working on the oil rigs, right?
Speaker:I was.
Speaker:I loved it I loved it.
Speaker:I liked the, um, fly in, fly out.
Speaker:I liked the remoteness.
Speaker:There was an element of, you know, everyone on there, there's no
Speaker:dead wood- Right … basically.
Speaker:Um, every, every bed is taken by a person that is productive.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, you obviously got the politics involved here and
Speaker:there, but I was contracting and brought in to fix problems.
Speaker:So as long as I was diplomatic, things worked for me.
Speaker:And how did that work, where you were… You said, what?
Speaker:Four months on, four months off or something like that?
Speaker:Or how did that work?
Speaker:How long- No.
Speaker:No, four weeks- Four weeks … or Jef.
Speaker:Four weeks on.
Speaker:Four weeks, right.
Speaker:They, they, they extend it basically so that there's m- so
Speaker:that there's less cost for the flights and there's less logistics.
Speaker:If you're domestic, i.e., if you were working in Ameri- America
Speaker:and Gulf of Mexico or the, um, British, um, North Sea, uh, you're,
Speaker:you're two weeks on, two weeks off.
Speaker:Um- Right … in N- in Norway they push it the other way.
Speaker:You've got two weeks on, three weeks off, but, um, Norway's a
Speaker:bit of an exceptional country.
Speaker:Um, yeah, and I loved it.
Speaker:It was, um… I liked production.
Speaker:It felt as if you were getting stuff done.
Speaker:You could see the results.
Speaker:Yeah, and, um, you know, I was on a good run.
Speaker:So they would, like, have to helicopter you out probably, I would imagine.
Speaker:Yeah, I was flying in from Southeast Asia- Right … connecting in Dubai.
Speaker:Um, and then going over to…
Speaker:My last role was in Brazil, which was excellent 'cause the Brazilians were
Speaker:really friendly, really good, um, setup.
Speaker:So it's mostly Brazilians on the, on the oil rig.
Speaker:Depending on which sector.
Speaker:You know, in the Nor- in Nigeria it was Nigerians mostly.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Um, with… You get a f- sprinkling of expats.
Speaker:For the Brazilian one it was a Chevron, um, uh, platform.
Speaker:Huh.
Speaker:So you also had, um, uh, Americans in the more senior roles basically to,
Speaker:uh, ensure that Chevron procedures and safety standards- Right.
Speaker:Right … are, um, maintained.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then you would get to the closest point, which, um,
Speaker:for me was, um, uh, Victoria.
Speaker:Uh, and then you would, you would do the last hour and a half in the helicopter.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And when, when, when you say about the helicopter there, Jef, sorry about that.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:When you say about the helicopter- Yeah, yeah, yeah … the, um, the, um…
Speaker:There was, um… Where was he from?
Speaker:He was, he was American, but I can't remember exactly where he was from,
Speaker:and I did, um… He was retiring.
Speaker:He'd, uh, served his whole time I think with Chevron, so it was
Speaker:quite the, uh, retirement package.
Speaker:But, um, uh, and I, I, you know, spoke to him and wished him all the best.
Speaker:And just all I said was, "You, you know, you're gonna be going traveling.
Speaker:Is there any of the… You know, Japan or what, you know, whatever do
Speaker:you want to see or that?" He said, "Gary," basically he said, "I've run
Speaker:my statistics and my percentages."
Speaker:He said, "For all the hours I have flown, I should have crashed something." You
Speaker:know, I should have ditched a helicopter.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I should have done something.
Speaker:So he was going back to his farm, and that was, that was his retirement.
Speaker:Don't push your luck, yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I had, um, maintenance guys I've… in, um, Nigeria that had- been kidnapped, um,
Speaker:other people that have been in helicopters that have basically Ditched- Wow
Speaker:as they call it.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And one of the things when you do the offshore survival course is,
Speaker:um, it, uh, basically highlights, um, how real it's gonna get.
Speaker:It's not gonna go down on a nice sunny day.
Speaker:It's gonna go down in the dark on a really bad weather.
Speaker:Uh, the sea's gonna be ferocious.
Speaker:You'll be lucky to get out with the helicopter because there'd be so
Speaker:much panic or, um, a non-s- couple of non-swimmers in there or something.
Speaker:Uh, then you've gotta get to a life raft that's obviously gonna try
Speaker:to blow away from the helicopter.
Speaker:You've gotta cut yourself, um, free from the helicopter and not get
Speaker:dragged down, and then you've only got X amount of, uh, time and exposure.
Speaker:S- for the North Sea, if you don't zip up your, um, exposure suit,
Speaker:which is almost like a dry suit- Yeah
Speaker:uh, you got about three minutes, and if it's zipped up,
Speaker:I think you got three hours.
Speaker:Yeah, no, no thanks.
Speaker:I'm good.
Speaker:I'm good.
Speaker:I saw Titanic, and I was … I'm all right with it.
Speaker:I don't need to do that.
Speaker:Um, and how many people were on these rigs at the same time?
Speaker:How many … Well, how big were the crew for these things?
Speaker:Depends on the degree of, um, production or processing that
Speaker:needs to be done with the, um, oil that's coming up out the ground.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Some places like North Sea, it comes up pretty good, so you, you … But
Speaker:there's some massive, um, um, ones in the Norwegian sector there.
Speaker:Like how many?
Speaker:People?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:On the platforms?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, typically, um, you know, 50.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Uh, you're not gonna get … The thing is, is, you know, when you're designing it,
Speaker:you're not gonna … You, you … These numbers will be all calculated, uh, 'cause
Speaker:of the weight and, um, you know, just the, uh, physical putting it together- Right.
Speaker:Right, right … um, be- be- you know, before you take it out wherever it is.
Speaker:So yeah, it … You know, they got, they got turbines on there.
Speaker:There's, you know, they could power a small s- town or s- you know.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But, uh, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was g- yeah, really interesting.
Speaker:Really g- you've got all … You know, you've got diversity from, um, uh, the
Speaker:electrical, uh, the instrumentation, the process guys, the maintenance guys.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Safety.
Speaker:You know.
Speaker:Do- Cooks.
Speaker:Everything … do they, uh … Do these things move at all, or do
Speaker:they, are they pretty static?
Speaker:Do they, do they sway in the, in the water?
Speaker:Depends how far off shore you are.
Speaker:Oh, all right.
Speaker:So if you're in, like, rougher waters, it's gonna … It's g- you're gonna
Speaker:feel a little bit- Well, the technology, mainly by the, um, Americans in Texas,
Speaker:um, uh, started on shore, uh, where they developed all the, um, drilling- Right
Speaker:and, um, let's say knowledge of it all.
Speaker:Uh, and then as they realized that there was some just in the shore, uh, they moved
Speaker:slightly offshore, and then as technology sort of developed, they've moved
Speaker:further and further away from the shore.
Speaker:Um, so they are basically either anchored, uh, a semi-mo- mo-
Speaker:submersible or, um, chained down.
Speaker:You know, there's others now that they use, uh- Converted oil tankers really.
Speaker:So the whole production, um, facilities gets put on the oil tanker.
Speaker:Uh, they call them floating production, uh, units, which, um, you know, they
Speaker:obviously bob up and down in the sea and then, um, they got some storage
Speaker:and then another oil tanker will come along however often, depending
Speaker:on how high the production rates are, um, and offload, and then the
Speaker:cycle will just continue And you're
Speaker:Like, when you're on one of these things, you're in the middle of nowhere
Speaker:in the ocean, generally speaking.
Speaker:So you just look around and it's just water as far as the eye can see.
Speaker:Beautiful.
Speaker:Absolutely stunning.
Speaker:The stars must've been un- must've been incredible.
Speaker:It's just gorgeous.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's just gorgeous.
Speaker:There's some days where you get … Like, for the North Sea, there was some days
Speaker:where the, the, the water will just be absolutely mirrored, flat calm.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Yeah, blissful.
Speaker:You see the sun come up.
Speaker:You might see some other, um, flares, uh, where they flare off some of
Speaker:the excess gas, in the distance.
Speaker:Um, and then another day, that sea will just be violent, and it's
Speaker:just like, "I'm not on something big enough to be out here."
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:Um, so it is, uh, quite daunting sometimes.
Speaker:But yeah, you know, the beauty … It was … Yeah, this … You, you're up at
Speaker:sort of 5:00 or something in the morning, and you see the sun break through,
Speaker:and it's just like, "Yeah, this is…" You wouldn't wanna be anywhere else.
Speaker:But then you are there to work, you know.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:You know, there's not a lot of, uh, social life with it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So were there ever any, like, incidents on one of these rigs that was, like, uh,
Speaker:uh, uh, dangerous or sketchy in any way?
Speaker:Were you ever in any danger?
Speaker:I will say the Norwegian one was, uh … Not, sorry, not the Norwegian one.
Speaker:The, uh, Nigerian- Uh-huh
Speaker:one was, was a little bit sketchy.
Speaker:We were on a platform that was designed for something else.
Speaker:Um, it wasn't particularly sized accordingly.
Speaker:Uh, and it was meant to degas, which we don't do in most Western
Speaker:areas, um, prior to it going to a secondary or main facility.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Um, and, uh, it had, um, what can be best described as sort of like
Speaker:rubber pipework, uh, connecting between the two, um, platforms.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And, uh, one of the, um, flexible hoses basically blew out three days before I
Speaker:was due to go, and it just basically shook the, um, whole platform from side to side.
Speaker:You've got gas released at sort of 70 bar, a lot of it.
Speaker:You've still got the flare going.
Speaker:Uh, people were running.
Speaker:They were all on the heli deck.
Speaker:And fortunately, one of the, um, local, uh, supervisors … It
Speaker:wasn't the supervisor.
Speaker:I think it was the lead operator, uh, decided on his own to
Speaker:go back to the control room.
Speaker:Maybe he should've, um, hit it beforehand, or the supervisor.
Speaker:Any- whoever should've … Uh, and then, um, yeah, shut the,
Speaker:um, downsea safety valves off.
Speaker:But yeah, that was, um, that could have been a, um, a major incident.
Speaker:Well, at least you weren't there at the time, so that's…
Speaker:dodged a bullet on that one.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so, and it pays quite well, as I think you said, the, the oil rig work, as I
Speaker:imagine- Yeah … it would pay quite well, 'cause it's somewhat dangerous and, you
Speaker:know, remote and all that kind of thing.
Speaker:Hard to have a relationship when you're on an oil rig, you know?
Speaker:Relationship's a classic one.
Speaker:You… It's, it's, um, unnatural really because you, you're used to
Speaker:nine to fives, only spending weekends and a few hours in the evening.
Speaker:These ones you've got no contact and then full contact for the two,
Speaker:three, four weeks, whatever it is.
Speaker:So yeah, it's quite a, quite an odd one because the other partner
Speaker:obviously forms a, a lifestyle, um, whilst you're away working and
Speaker:whichever way round it, um- Right.
Speaker:Right … And with the, with the money, the money is good,
Speaker:the, you know, it's factored in.
Speaker:But one of the main things is for half of the year you're in the middle
Speaker:of the ocean, you can't spend it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So you're saving money.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:That's the thing that sort of, um, gets, uh, missed out of the equation.
Speaker:It's not like you come back with a whole briefcase full of cash.
Speaker:Um- Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:It's just that you're not spending it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:Huh.
Speaker:The, the other unfortunate thing is, is, um, if, you know, when,
Speaker:when younger people get the, get…
Speaker:The, the money gets blown thinking, oh, there's fast cars and lots
Speaker:of lifestyle and whatever else.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, so, you know, they can rather than saving it, invest in it or whatever it
Speaker:is, uh, you see quite older gentlemen still out there, um, with, with a
Speaker:couple of divorces and whatever else.
Speaker:And, uh, you know, really they should have done their time
Speaker:and no longer be exposed to it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But you got out because you didn't make these mistakes.
Speaker:Or you were, you were able to get out Yeah Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, so how long did you work?
Speaker:How many years did you work on these things?
Speaker:Uh, I worked up till I was, uh, 45.
Speaker:And you started when you were…?
Speaker:When I left, uh, university, so that would've been 23, I think.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:I didn't go straight, I didn't go straight into the offshore, to be honest.
Speaker:I, um, uh, I had no network or family connections.
Speaker:Uh, I wasn't from the, um, local oil or gas areas.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Uh, my first job was in, um… What was it?
Speaker:It was a, a coatings industry, which, uh, photoresist, and then, uh, I took a shift
Speaker:manager's role in an edible oils refinery in, um, uh, the Isle of Dogs in London.
Speaker:Huh, and so then you worked in the oil rigs for 20, 25 years or so.
Speaker:Uh, tw- 20 years sounds like about, give or take.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, give or take.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Give or take.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then was that the place that you kind of traveling around the world doing
Speaker:this, was this where you got kind of the wanderlust that you're now ex- you,
Speaker:you know, you're now exploring it now?
Speaker:Um, I, I might have had it a little bit before, 'cause I did, um… I
Speaker:came out of the job from the Isle of Dogs, Jef, and then did go traveling.
Speaker:All right, so it's always been a thing.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I did, I did the whole, um, um, year out, well, a little bit later.
Speaker:I obviously had to pay off my, um, student loans and, um,
Speaker:get some money together- Right
Speaker:which is what I did in those, with those first couple of jobs.
Speaker:Sure, sure, sure.
Speaker:And then, um, yeah, went, um, where did we start?
Speaker:Mainly started in India, I suppose, and then Southeast Asia, and then
Speaker:down through to Australia, which is a pretty common route for Europeans.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And then, um, yeah, came back and was fortunate enough because
Speaker:I got the job through the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Speaker:Um, I got back in touch with them when I got back to the UK, and they were like,
Speaker:"Well, you did, um, well with the, uh, uh, Isle of Dogs shift manager's role.
Speaker:How about, are you still interested in going offshore?" I was like,
Speaker:"Yes." And that was my in.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:So I was, I was a bit fortunate.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:So where do you think that this desire to see the world comes from?
Speaker:Like, is it just a thing that… Do… Is, like, your family or anybody, anybody in
Speaker:your life that influenced you to do this?
Speaker:Like, for myself, it was kinda my sister started traveling after she
Speaker:was in or whilst she was in college and kinda got me wanting to do it.
Speaker:Um, but I don't know.
Speaker:I mean, how did it happen for you?
Speaker:Was it just something that you were like, "I wanna see the world"?
Speaker:Uh, yeah, I think, uh, to be honest, I traveled with a mate from university, Tim.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And, um, he, he got in touch with me whilst I was basically still,
Speaker:you know, working in London.
Speaker:I, you know, hadn't really thought, rethought of it.
Speaker:And he j- he said that, that he was getting a little bit, uh, over the job
Speaker:he was in, and he said, "Do you still think about, um, going round the world?"
Speaker:I'm like, "Well, yeah, absolutely." Uh, he said, "Well," he said, "I'm ready to
Speaker:jack it , you know- Right … imminently." I said, "Well, you're gonna have to
Speaker:give us a couple of months to, um, get a little bit organized and to say my
Speaker:goodbyes." But, um, yeah, no, obviously, so at university he was aware and I
Speaker:was aware that I wanted to travel.
Speaker:We didn't do a lot of holidays as, um, as a family.
Speaker:Um, mainly we, you know, let's just say we didn't have, um,
Speaker:the, the spare cash for it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:But, um, you know, my grandad did travel, but we didn't know… Well,
Speaker:he basically was gonna leave and go to Australia, uh, and then New
Speaker:Zealand, and then he came back.
Speaker:He left, I think, when he was 16, so it was quite bold for a back,
Speaker:um, back at the turn of- For sure
Speaker:the century.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Um, uh, he was working in, um, coal mines in New Zealand.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, was on better money there than he was when he came back to the UK.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And he only came back because he had to settle his estate with,
Speaker:um, or w- what… Well, basically, I think his dad was dying.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:So, um- Right
Speaker:and then he met my grandmother when, um, he came back.
Speaker:So that was, that's where that changed.
Speaker:Hm.
Speaker:But maybe it did trigger something, but, uh, I, I just,
Speaker:there's a lot to see out there.
Speaker:Yeah, there is.
Speaker:And it's interesting that some people, I mean, in my perspective is the
Speaker:United States, but it seems like some people do very much wanna travel.
Speaker:Not a ton of people, in my experience, and some people just don't have
Speaker:any interest in seeing the world.
Speaker:And I just don't really understand why you wouldn't wanna see
Speaker:other places in the world.
Speaker:But then again, some people, I think a lot of it comes out of maybe fear, you know?
Speaker:I mean, or, you know, getting out of your comfort zone, all these kind of things.
Speaker:But, uh, uh, but yeah.
Speaker:I do agree with you there, Jef.
Speaker:The bit, the bit where I don't understand why you wouldn't wanna see it.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, and a lot, a lot of people don't.
Speaker:I th- There, there's also the bit, um, you know, 'cause I have to think, um, why.
Speaker:Um, I think people get used to their home life- Yeah, they nest
Speaker:and the c- Yeah … and they nest.
Speaker:They do, and they get comfortable with what they know, and are comfortable
Speaker:with two-week holiday, wherever it is.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, you know, they save up and do that.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then the, that, and then they're back into whatever else.
Speaker:I suppose they get, um, you know, a structured… I think it's
Speaker:different as well, uh, with children.
Speaker:If you've got children- Oh, for sure.
Speaker:For sure, yeah … you know.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I th- I think, um, especially if that happens early on, then you sort of
Speaker:realize, your, your focus shifts, and then I think that's possibly
Speaker:where the, um, travel round the world bit, um, gets put on the, um, shelf.
Speaker:I also think that it's also, you know, fear of the unknown as well, and
Speaker:also a fear of perhaps being, like, confronted with a reality that you've
Speaker:dec- you've already decided that, whatever, Mexico's a dangerous place.
Speaker:So if you went there and found out otherwise, your, your, your reality would
Speaker:be, you know, somehow shattered in a way.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Well, I, I think, I think what, what happens there, they, they
Speaker:choose safer destinations.
Speaker:Yeah, they go to the beach resorts- They- And yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We're in Mexico, but really you're just in, like, a, an American resort
Speaker:in Mexico or whatever the hell.
Speaker:There's stuff like Cancun.
Speaker:I hear that is basically the, uh, you, you get more trouble there, even though
Speaker:it's the popular tourist thing than- Right … than you do o- other areas.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So- Right … you know, they, what they, what they perceive as the, uh, safer
Speaker:option is the, uh, more dangerous option.
Speaker:Well, I think the cartels probably spend a lot of time there because they
Speaker:can sell the drugs to the tourists and all that kind of thing, but who knows?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Anyway, is there a place you've been in the world, Gary, that is like a highlight
Speaker:where you're like, "Oh, that was…" Or one of the, uh, not, maybe not number one.
Speaker:I know it's hard to do number one, but what's like one of the favorite places
Speaker:that you've been to in the whole world?
Speaker:Do you know, Jef, that's one of the, um, that's one of the most frequently
Speaker:asked questions really- Oh, well
Speaker:when you're cycling round and- Yeah … you know I'm sure,
Speaker:yeah … uh, and, um, I generally say the last country that I've been in.
Speaker:I name that because the, the memory's the freshest.
Speaker:Uh, you can list off stuff and various other things.
Speaker:But to answer your question, Japan was Uh, amazing Yeah For me m- mostly because
Speaker:it was totally, uh, so m- so varied.
Speaker:My perception I think was just it was gonna be massive Tokyo.
Speaker:And then I got there, and it's, um, 99% Japanese.
Speaker:So you get the full- Yeah … um, Japanese experience.
Speaker:Very, very homogenous.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:Um, lovely, polite, safe, interesting.
Speaker:Um, uh, I like the cultural, um, difference to what we're used to.
Speaker:Um, Nep- the other one there is Nepal.
Speaker:You've got the Himalayas, which are unlike anything else.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Stunning.
Speaker:Uh, you've got the Buddhist … It's a bit like India, but it's,
Speaker:um, without the hassle.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So Nepal is- Yeah … it's up there.
Speaker:Uh, Southeast Asia's cool again.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Mainly culturally, lovely people.
Speaker:Um, safe.
Speaker:The Buddhist influence is always good.
Speaker:There are … You know, I th- I think there's really special places.
Speaker:I don't think I've, um … There's many that you go to and, um,
Speaker:come away, uh, disappointed.
Speaker:You know- Right … India is just so extreme.
Speaker:I don't think you can come away with India without having some perception.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Love it or hate it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't know that I could do India.
Speaker:I've heard so many stories about just, uh, all of the, uh, the touts and so forth.
Speaker:I don't know that I could.
Speaker:But, uh, who knows?
Speaker:Personal space in India, Jef, basically, you know, it's, uh,
Speaker:there's 1.4 billion- Yeah … Indians.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, it's not the biggest of countries.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, personal space is not something they, um, uh, highly
Speaker:regard, which obviously- Oh, yeah, I
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I experienced that in South Korea.
Speaker:It was, it w- the personal space is not even a thing.
Speaker:It was crazy.
Speaker:Um- Not even a thing.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And men holding hands- Yeah … which was weird.
Speaker:There was a, uh- … men are hold- men, men holding- That's
Speaker:an Indian thing as well.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And one of my, one of my teachers at one point, we were just walking down the
Speaker:street after having, like, an introductory meeting, and he tries to hold my hand.
Speaker:And I'm like, "Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:No, no.
Speaker:I'm okay.
Speaker:I'm okay." Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We don't, we don't do this.
Speaker:We don't do this.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We don't, we don't do that.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I mean, I'm all for trying to, you know, integrate myself into the
Speaker:culture, but I'm not gonna, uh- I felt like drawing the line … hold a
Speaker:man's, hold a middle-aged man's hand.
Speaker:Get holded.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um- Yeah … yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Uh, is there anywhere that you are still wanting to go?
Speaker:Is there … What's next on the list?
Speaker:I was gonna, um, get down to Bushfire, and if I had the timing right on
Speaker:the seasons- Get down to where?
Speaker:… uh, I was Uh, the southern tip of, uh, um, Argentina Okay It's just south of, uh,
Speaker:the Patagonian region Right It may even be in the very, um, yeah, Ushuaia it's
Speaker:spelled, um- Okay I'm not gonna try and spell it Yeah, it's okay Um, y- uh, and
Speaker:I was gonna come back up, but, um, yeah, I will be going back to the, uh, the UK
Speaker:and sorting out a few things that have popped up, and I've suppose I've saved
Speaker:Europe because it's close, and I hopefully can do that at any point unless they,
Speaker:um, change- That seems, that seems easy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, that seems like an easy one- Yeah … at this point, yeah.
Speaker:So, um, I, you know, I was gonna probably try to get back up to sort of like Mexico-
Speaker:Yeah … um, for the, uh, so I was gonna try to, um, see a lot more of this area.
Speaker:Um, but circumstances have sort of, uh- limited that idea for now.
Speaker:So I would come back, definitely.
Speaker:Yeah, I would love to explore more of Mexico.
Speaker:The other one was I was gonna ride from, uh, Cairo to, um, Cape,
Speaker:which is also a, um, you know, pretty well-known cycle route.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:The east of Austra- um, of Africa had always been perceived as the
Speaker:safer option- Sure … than the west.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, whereas, whereas now it could be the opposite.
Speaker:You can't continuously ride through the countries on the east, so,
Speaker:um, that it, it's less appealing.
Speaker:If you, if you can ride the route straight, uh, and not have
Speaker:to worry about, um, putting it in a plane, then fair enough.
Speaker:Uh, I would probably, um, I would probably consider more China, really.
Speaker:Uh, I had a quick look in the southern bit, the Yunnan and the
Speaker:Sichuan region, uh, which I enjoyed.
Speaker:So I would, uh, consider China.
Speaker:Um- Yeah.
Speaker:Iceland.
Speaker:Do you ever wanna do Iceland?
Speaker:Because there's a ring road there, and people do that all the time.
Speaker:They do.
Speaker:They do.
Speaker:Um- Yeah, it's a beautiful country … you, the thing… Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, the only thing is, is you s- it would be good.
Speaker:You would specifically fly in.
Speaker:Also windy, too.
Speaker:Do your route.
Speaker:Yeah, very windy though, too.
Speaker:Also windy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You'd have to make sure you didn't get too cold.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, uh, I would imagine rather expensive, but, um- Yeah, it's expensive … yeah,
Speaker:um, it would be good to, good to ride, but, uh, ag- probably again,
Speaker:a little later on when you, when you haven't got, or I wouldn't be able
Speaker:to designate large chunks of time.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:If I, if, you know, it's a bit like cycling around Ireland.
Speaker:That would be great.
Speaker:Yeah, I would- But again, I can do that in the summer- Yeah … uh, from the UK.
Speaker:Yeah, I'll do that with you, Gary.
Speaker:I would love to do that.
Speaker:When I was in Ireland, like you can see- Absolutely … bike paths
Speaker:everywhere, and they're like beautiful well-paved bike paths all around
Speaker:the country, and it's just, yeah.
Speaker:Well, we'll line that up, Jef.
Speaker:We'll get that sorted out.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, we'll have to do that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Once I get a, once I get a job, Gary, I'll…
Speaker:Or once the podcast takes off.
Speaker:Okay, there's a few things, there's a few things we gotta sort out beforehand.
Speaker:Yeah, I need to get- But once we get- Need to get some money first
Speaker:once we get the- But, uh- Yeah … yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, once we get them, yeah.
Speaker:Once we get some, that money.
Speaker:Yeah, once we get that sorted and lined up.
Speaker:Like, the food, the food thing and the money thing figured out, then we'll
Speaker:talk about doing an Ireland- Yeah, an overseas bike trip, yeah Well, the
Speaker:other side of that one would be that it does, the weather there is kinda shit,
Speaker:so it would be a lot of like, it, you know, it does rain quite a bit, so it'd
Speaker:be a wet one It would be a wet one.
Speaker:You basically have to, have to be prepared to, um, get very
Speaker:wet, so it would be wet gear.
Speaker:Uh- Yeah … y- your camping, camping would be okay, but you'd have to get
Speaker:used to basically, um, putting on wet clothes and, um- Ugh, yeah, maybe
Speaker:not … packing- All right, I take it back … packing, packing a wet I don't,
Speaker:I don't wanna go any- Packing a wet tent
Speaker:I don't wanna go anymore.
Speaker:We'll go somewhere else, Gary.
Speaker:I don't wanna go to, I don't wanna go there.
Speaker:We'll just go back to Mexico and we'll go somewhere else Mexico.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah Go through the Baja.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Down, down.
Speaker:Uh, we can get more of that sp- spectacular heroin we got in, in Mexico
Speaker:City- … and, uh, just get ripped.
Speaker:And just fly.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Right, right, right, right.
Speaker:It's easier to bike when you're on that heroin.
Speaker:That's what you always said.
Speaker:That's what I find, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:That's the thing we haven't talked about is how you are doing this
Speaker:entire trip, uh, just doing heroin the whole way, isn't that right?
Speaker:We didn't mention that- That's right
Speaker:in this episode.
Speaker:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Um, which is interesting.
Speaker:It's, uh, not something I d- I don't bring up very often.
Speaker:Yeah, no, I know you don't like to talk about it.
Speaker:Um, um- But, you know, we like people to be honest on this podcast.
Speaker:So yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Um, Gary, just, I mean, functional heroin addict to a
Speaker:degree that's really impressive.
Speaker:Wow, what was the, uh, uh, um, isn't it the Rolling Stones', uh, lead guitarist
Speaker:or bassist, bass gu- Keith, um, Richards Keith Richards, yeah, who should be
Speaker:dead 80 times by this point, yeah.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Yeah, you're like the biking- For his, uh- You're like the biking
Speaker:version of Keith Richards, Gary.
Speaker:And I love his dress sense.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But, um- He's, um- Yeah … always got a cigarette hanging out of
Speaker:your mouth- … a needle out of your arm, biking down the road.
Speaker:Fucking crazy.
Speaker:Um, hey, Gary doesn't do heroin while he bikes.
Speaker:Just disclaimer for anybody who th- doesn't understand- That's right.
Speaker:We better just clear it up, yeah … kind of just friendly joshing.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, we did ride in an air balloon together though, so that was actually a thing.
Speaker:We definitely did that, didn't we?
Speaker:We, we weren't lying on the floor- We did, that was, uh, yeah … in, in some sort
Speaker:of, like, squat or something did- Yeah, I never thought I'd go on an air balloon.
Speaker:We- It was pretty incredible.
Speaker:That was, that was, and I, I gotta say, I think for, for a flight, it was, um, it
Speaker:was absolutely stunning going over those, um- Yeah, no … pyramids … it was, it
Speaker:was, it was one of the f- you know, you do a lot of touristy things when you go to
Speaker:places, and then some of them disappoint- Mm-hmm … and some of them are good.
Speaker:But that one- That, yeah … over- oversold.
Speaker:Except for the ride back- Totally … was the nightmare part for me.
Speaker:Oh, yes.
Speaker:But, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When he, when he basically dropped other people off and, uh, went out of his
Speaker:way as opposed to just sort of, like, drop- To drop us off last … yeah.
Speaker:I don't know what we did, but, uh, we did something.
Speaker:Um- Yeah.
Speaker:I think it was all the heroin you were doing in the back of the- That's right.
Speaker:And chatting to him all the time.
Speaker:Right, right, right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, well, Gary, the last question, which doesn't seem appropriate based on
Speaker:our conversation about the biking, but the last question I do ask people, uh,
Speaker:at the end of the, uh, the podcast is what do you think happens when we die?
Speaker:Ah, interesting, um, change of, uh, pace there Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Well, usually the conversation's more about, you know, I mean, this has been a
Speaker:focus of your biking and all that kind of thing, so it's b- it is a very much a…
Speaker:It does feel like a 180 in this case.
Speaker:Yes, you're right.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:It some- sometimes there it's a little bit more philosophical, uh, philosophical.
Speaker:Yeah, that's the word.
Speaker:You got it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You got there.
Speaker:You got there.
Speaker:Um, it's funny that.
Speaker:That's, um, that is quite an interesting, um, poignant question.
Speaker:I, up until for quite a while I was, um, to the, uh, opinion that, um, you did just
Speaker:basically run your course- Mm … and, uh, and there, there was nothing afterwards.
Speaker:However, I'm starting to find there, there possibly is a little bit more to
Speaker:your, uh, soul- Mm … and, uh, levels of energy, um, and whether or not there is a
Speaker:particular chance of, uh, reincarnation.
Speaker:So I, I, yeah, I'm undecided at the moment.
Speaker:I'm certainly not gonna say the, uh, that I'm… Mm, that does
Speaker:lead into a creator or non-creator type of- Right, right, right
Speaker:question, which does sorta sorta suggest, um, before the Big Bang there was nothing.
Speaker:How do you, um, have nothing and then everything?
Speaker:So, um- Yeah, it could well be, um- Yeah … that there is.
Speaker:Who knows?
Speaker:Who knows?
Speaker:Consciousness might live on.
Speaker:Well, that's… Yes, consciousness- Yeah … is, is, um, probably
Speaker:a better description than soul.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's so much easier to believe that this is it when you're,
Speaker:like, 20 years old, isn't it?
Speaker:And then as you get older it becomes- Yeah … a little harder,
Speaker:so you have to start to, yeah.
Speaker:Um- Well, I… And again- again, when we, when we've ans- when you, when you get
Speaker:there, you think, "Oh, people only think like that because they're getting closer
Speaker:to the end, and they want something else.
Speaker:Um, and they don't… They're not comfortable with the idea
Speaker:that it does just end." Right.
Speaker:But it's, it's more than that.
Speaker:Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker:You know, your thinking changes, and it's like, actually nothing doesn't quite f-
Speaker:isn't quite enough, um, of an answer.
Speaker:Could well be, because, I mean, you know, there's greater minds that do
Speaker:actually, uh, split the difference, that, um, you know, got physicists
Speaker:that do and don't believe in it, um, astrologers, whichever it is.
Speaker:So, um, yeah, um, I'm still, um, not completely convinced, whereas before I
Speaker:was quite a stringent, um, uh, atheist thinking that there is nothing else,
Speaker:and I was quite, um, you know, let's say blase about the fact that whoever
Speaker:thought there was other things, I was quite happy for them to think it.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:But I was thinking they're way off the mark, whereas now I'm actually
Speaker:like, I don't believe that, um, you know, which religion could
Speaker:be closest to the right truth.
Speaker:But, um, the consciousness thing is the bit that, um, I
Speaker:find most- Open-ended Yeah.
Speaker:A- and I also think, like, I, I was raised Catholic, so the, the
Speaker:only spiritual ideas I was exposed to as a child was just, like,
Speaker:Christianity and pretty much it, right?
Speaker:And, and I think as I've gotten older and as, you know, time has
Speaker:gone on, there's been much more of an exploration of what even the nature
Speaker:of consciousness is, and much more…
Speaker:Many more people meditating, and many more people doing yoga, and things
Speaker:like this, this, the New Age movement, if you wanna call it something.
Speaker:And I think that's also contributed a little bit to my, um, rethinking of my
Speaker:beliefs about what perhaps this all is or what it isn't, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, um, I, I went along to, um, what is it?
Speaker:The 10-day silent retreat- Yeah, yeah, in Koh Sam- … yeah, in Thailand.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, and reading around, um, the, the, the belief of, um, Buddhism, it's, you
Speaker:know, it's solid, it's well put together.
Speaker:Um, I don't think, um, Western people adopt it particularly well.
Speaker:You can't sort of un-educate the Christian upbringing, um- Yeah
Speaker:and try to, try to shoehorn it into the, um, the Buddhist thingy.
Speaker:I think it suits, uh, the Southeast Asian and, uh, Indian and Belize better.
Speaker:Um- Yeah, I agree.
Speaker:Uh, although I would say that even a little bit of Buddhism is
Speaker:better than no Buddhism at all.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:If, uh, if you're gonna pick- It should be their slogan.
Speaker:It should be their slogan.
Speaker:Oh, that's right.
Speaker:Write their new slogan.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:A little bit of Buddhism.
Speaker:Better start producing, start producing T-shirts and, and mugs.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:The, um, um… But I think if you were gonna choose one, I'd choose that
Speaker:one, if we were gonna have anything.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:If you could just have, if you could go carte blanche across the whole
Speaker:world, uh, and people had the choice of nothing and/or that, that is the
Speaker:one that, uh, I think we should have.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:I mean, Buddhism isn't really jive with capitalism either, so I feel like that's
Speaker:kind of gon- not gonna work out too well.
Speaker:Although Jesus, like, wasn't big on money either, but they've kind of forgotten
Speaker:about that part of the Bible, I guess.
Speaker:Yeah, I think, um, yeah, uh, basically I think they emphasize on materialism- Yeah
Speaker:is the, um, root.
Speaker:So, you know- Yeah, they really do … which is materialism is the one
Speaker:that is a progression of capitalism.
Speaker:It's moving into greed.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:So- Right … i- if you could, if you could moderate a form of
Speaker:capitalism, I think you could probably have them working symbiotically.
Speaker:I don't know, but I know that I don't know, and that's all that I need to know.
Speaker:Yeah, that works well, Jef.
Speaker:Uh, anyway, Gary, it was wonderful to hear your voice again.
Speaker:I haven't talked to you for s- for, I don't know, it's only been
Speaker:eight months, but, uh, we had such a good time in Mexico City.
Speaker:You're like one of these people that I've met on my, met on my,
Speaker:met on my travels that I'm like, "I'm gonna know Gary forever."
Speaker:So I'm really glad- Absolutely, Jef … I'm really glad I g- I got
Speaker:a chance to cut up, to catch up.
Speaker:Ugh, my brain.
Speaker:And yeah, thanks for sitting down and talking about this.
Speaker:You're, uh, you- good luck on your biking.
Speaker:How long are you gonna be… When do you, when do you head out?
Speaker:Tomorrow you said?
Speaker:I will be tomorrow, yeah.
Speaker:I'll probably make, um, it's always, uh, a little bit later than you think.
Speaker:Nor- you know, when you're wrapping a tent up, you can be
Speaker:gone by 7:00 in the morning.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:When you leave, when you're leaving a comfortable, um, piece
Speaker:of accommodation- Yeah, yeah, yeah … it is closer to half 9.
Speaker:But, um- And how far, how far are you gonna bike tomorrow do you think?
Speaker:How many, how many miles you do?
Speaker:Uh- How many kilometers or miles do you do a day?
Speaker:I used to say if you're roughly, you can, you can, um, aim for, uh,
Speaker:100K a day, uh, consistently without actually sort of blowing your legs.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, it's a little bit different in the mountains and all the headwinds,
Speaker:so you've got to factor that in.
Speaker:Alt and road surface, if it's, um, you know, sealed, you're, you're good as gold.
Speaker:If it's, uh, gravelly, uh, things can get a little bit harder.
Speaker:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:But, um, what I normally do for the first one is I just sort of get myself away
Speaker:from, uh, where I'm leaving- Right … and look for somewhere suitable early in the
Speaker:afternoon, just so you got your first day and a decent camping place- Right
Speaker:um, set up for, and then you get into your rhythm after that.
Speaker:What's the highest elevation you've been at, do you think, at this,
Speaker:uh, at this point on the trip?
Speaker:Oof.
Speaker:Uh- Like, high enough where it was, like, hard to breathe?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Y- yeah, y- I mean, I'm not sure how high they get in North America, but it
Speaker:must have had, uh- I mean, Colombia.
Speaker:Yeah, it must have been high.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's a ridiculous question- Yeah … 'cause some places up there are, like,
Speaker:8,000, 9,000 feet, which is, I don't know how many of your kilometers-
Speaker:Yes … that is, but, you know.
Speaker:Yeah, good 4,000 meters.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Easy.
Speaker:A- and plus, I think, I think, um, I think it pushes five and a bit, uh, at some
Speaker:of the passes possibly across the Andes.
Speaker:Goddamn.
Speaker:Uh, obviously the Himalayas previously, you're, you're up high.
Speaker:But for the beauty of all of that, you get the views, so.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Um- And you're gonna be, you're gonna be ripped, Gary, when
Speaker:you're done with this trip.
Speaker:You're gonna be legitimately ripped.
Speaker:Well, the legs.
Speaker:The le- you end up with- Right.
Speaker:Right, right.
Speaker:The legs will be ripped- Y- disproportionate … upper body.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:That's what I said.
Speaker:Like, the- Disproportionate.
Speaker:You end up going home looking like a frog, but, um- … yeah.
Speaker:Little tiny little arms.
Speaker:You end up going home like, well, those, like, Tour de France riders.
Speaker:They all look like, you know, they have giant legs and little bitty upper bodies.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's kind of funny.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, well, you know, you can, you can glutton.
Speaker:You can be a glutton when you get back to England and eat all the delicious British
Speaker:food that your country is known for.
Speaker:That's so well-phrased.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, like, you know, boiled potatoes- Yeah … and boiled
Speaker:pizza and all that kind of thing.
Speaker:Yum.
Speaker:It's amazing, it's amazing that everyone seems to have a go at that.
Speaker:Well, it gets good Indian food.
Speaker:Good Indian food.
Speaker:Yes, they do have good Indian food.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's funny.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right, Gary.
Speaker:Well, wonderful talking to you.
Speaker:Thanks for doing this.
Speaker:Good luck on the ride.
Speaker:Keep me posted.
Speaker:Uh, and yeah, let's keep in touch, man.
Speaker:I'll talk to you again soon, I hope.
Speaker:Nice one, Jef.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Keep in touch.
Speaker:Yeah, man.
Speaker:Love you, my friend.
Speaker:Love you, too.
Speaker:And that was Gary Clarke about to continue his trip south through the Peruvian
Speaker:mountains and towards Tierra del Fuego.
Speaker:It was great to catch up with Gary, and I hope you enjoyed that
Speaker:conversation as much as I did.
Speaker:And if you did enjoy this conversation, please share the podcast with someone.
Speaker:Trying to grow a podcast takes a village.
Speaker:And if you yourself enjoy the show, then your friends probably will too.
Speaker:Just text them a link to onefjefpod.com, which is the
Speaker:brand-new website for the podcast.
Speaker:It's a bit bare bones at the moment, but it gets the job done, onefjefpod.com.
Speaker:And if you'd like to follow Gary on his epic bike journey, you can follow
Speaker:him on Instagram at Gary_Clarke.
Speaker:That's Gary_Clarke, C-L-A-R-K-E.
Speaker:And if you'd like to follow this podcast on its epic podcast journey, you can
Speaker:follow it on Instagram at onefjefpod.
Speaker:That's onefjefpod, one word.
Speaker:I'm always interested in your thoughts, feedback, or suggestions,
Speaker:which you can email to me as always at onefjefpod@gmail.com.
Speaker:And for those of you not listening with a notepad at hand, all this information
Speaker:will also be available in the show notes.
Speaker:I'm going to leave you today with a short poem by the legendary Rumi,
Speaker:which feels strangely appropriate in these strange, heartbreaking times.
Speaker:"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there's a field.
Speaker:I'll meet you there.
Speaker:When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Speaker:Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense."
Speaker:Take care of yourselves, my friends.
Speaker:I'll see you soon Very good, Jeffrey
