Episode 23
Gary Clarke is Biking from Alaska to Argentina — Here’s Why He Left Everything Behind
I talk to Gary Clarke, who is currently in Huaraz, Peru—cold mountains, thin air, and 7,500 kilometers left before he reaches Tierra del Fuego. We talk about bad Spanish classes, hot air balloons, oil rig sunrises, why most people don’t chase the life they want, and why the best way to see the world is on the seat of a bicycle.
You can follow Gary's travels on Instagram @gary_clarke
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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
I ordered breakfast the other day and all I heard was fritter and up until then I'd have chicken fritter
Speaker:so I thought this yeah and I ended up with quarter of a fried guinea pig and I was like yeah
Speaker:right but they eat a lot of guinea pigs yeah they love it did you try it well had to it it was
Speaker:basically what I ordered that breakfast yeah there's not a lot on meat on it surprisingly right right
Speaker:was it good no so yeah most of it ended up on the side dish this is episode 23 of onefjef
Speaker:the number 23 has an uncanny way of showing up in science nature and mystery humans have 23 pairs
Speaker:of chromosomes in their DNA and the earth is tilted at about 23 degrees on its axis giving us
Speaker:seasons it's said that blood takes roughly 23 seconds to circulate through the body and the 23rd
Speaker:hour 11 pm marks the final hour before a new day begins these patterns help give rise to the 23
Speaker:enigma the belief that this number appears suspiciously often and carries hidden meaning hello my friends
Speaker:how are you good I hope that's yes if not keep listening this podcast is about to make you feel better
Speaker:why are you asked because today's guest is Gary Clark Gary Clark is a British long-distance
Speaker:cyclist currently attempting to ride around the world right now he's peddling from Alaska all
Speaker:the way to the southern tip of Chile continuing a journey that's already taken him across Australia
Speaker:through southeast Asia India Japan and into the mountains of Nepal before turning to life on the
Speaker:road Clark worked on offshore oil rigs and platforms a career he left behind to pursue a slower
Speaker:more deliberate way of seeing the world from the saddle of a bicycle sometimes you meet a
Speaker:person and you just feel like you'll know them forever and that was how I felt after I met Gary in
Speaker:Mexico City earlier this year 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 trip episode nine if you're
Speaker:curious I didn't learn much in that class I don't think Gary did either but I met some great people
Speaker:and I'll take great people over knowledge any day of the week we had a fairly immediate connection
Speaker:Gary and I we share a similar sense of humor and perspective on life and the way the world works
Speaker:and he's just a really likeable guy we did a bunch of sightseeing together ate some amazing food
Speaker:together and I actually ended up letting him crash for a couple nights in the extra bedroom in my
Speaker:Airbnb so we could go on this amazing hunter balloon ride over the TOT Wakhan pyramids
Speaker:the interesting thing about Gary is that he barely talked about his bike trip most of the people
Speaker:in the Spanish class we were in didn't even know that he was doing this until I mentioned it and
Speaker:then they were like whoa really and I think it's because Gary doesn't really think what he's doing is
Speaker:all that remarkable it's just something he likes to do so he's doing it but it is remarkable
Speaker:as I'm sure most of you would agree so I'm grateful that he was willing to take some time out from
Speaker:this epic trip of his to talk to me from the guest house he was staying at in Haras Peru and just FYI
Speaker:due to Peruvian internet issues we had to have this conversation over WhatsApp so the sound quality
Speaker:isn't perfect but you'll get over it you probably won't even notice it or maybe you wouldn't have
Speaker:noticed it had I not said anything and now that I have said something they'll be listening for it
Speaker:so maybe just disregard thank you as always and forever to my new patreon subscribers
Speaker:actually there's just one since the last episode but everything helps so thank you to my new
Speaker:and continuing patreon subscribers for your support of the podcast I'll be putting some photos of
Speaker:Gary and I in Mexico City in the patreon feed for your enjoyment and there's another bonus episode
Speaker:for you on the way if you yourself would like some visual aids to enhance your experience of this
Speaker:podcast or if you just like to help support the show please do go to patreon.com/onefjef and sign
Speaker:up for as little as five dollars a month and you too will get access to all the amazing bonus content I've
Speaker:put up there and you'll get street cred patreon.com/onefjef and whether you're a patreon subscriber or not
Speaker:I appreciate you and your magical ears which you are using right now to hear my voice I don't know much
Speaker:about how ears work but the little I do know leads me to believe that it's kind of miraculous
Speaker:this ability to hear and I'm glad you're using this miracle to listen to onefjef so thank you for
Speaker:listening thank you for being here here's Gary Clark talking to me from a guest house in Haraz Peru
Speaker:yeah I missed the round on chat GPT I had to get something together for an insurance company
Speaker:and then I managed to go out get some camping gas and a few supplies ready for the off tomorrow
Speaker:all right well I think this will actually work it's not ideal but Peruvian internet is not known for
Speaker:its high quality connections absolutely right we'll we'll work around that right so Gary Clark is so
Speaker:good to talk to you again it's been what about eight months or so since we met it has been Jef yeah
Speaker:yeah very good memories yeah indeed yeah so Gary and I met I was in Mexico earlier this year and we met
Speaker:in a Spanish class actually that wasn't a very good Spanish class as we Gary and I have joked
Speaker:about many many times I forget I forget what the one joke was about this is better than that thing
Speaker:we just wanted to know how to order tacos so yeah yeah and it's the we needed phrases yeah and we
Speaker:were getting this that yeah yeah yeah we were getting some more advanced things so yeah it wasn't the
Speaker:best class in terms of learning Spanish but in terms of like making friends it was great and then
Speaker:being Gary went on a magical air balloon ride in Mexico on by the pyramids outside of Mexico city
Speaker:that was kind of an amazing day actually and we didn't die we didn't die and it was magnificent the
Speaker:views was incredible and I was amazed how many balloons they put up in the air yeah there was one
Speaker:that crashed recently too I saw yeah I think I think I think I think it'll link but yeah yeah somebody
Speaker:died so at least we didn't we didn't get on that one so that's good that was good that is always
Speaker:a positive here for you make it back so where are you right now where do I find you right now I'm in
Speaker:Horaz which is the basically the climbing and hiking sort of epicenter for the high pigs around
Speaker:this area what what big city is it near is right near anything I would know well it's close it's in
Speaker:land from Lima really Lima being on the coast right right and then Horaz is pretty much as soon as
Speaker:you see the snow cap mown in this is in the foot hails of that so it's pretty it is stunning yeah it's
Speaker:lovely and there's a lot of international backpackers and people that have come probably
Speaker:specifically for the climbs right right right so tell me I mean I know but like tell my listeners
Speaker:about what what kind of trip you're on here you're biking trip here yeah yeah basically COVID
Speaker:put a good couple of years gap in between my five year ride and run a world and to look for a
Speaker:decent start to finish ride I decided to pick the Alaska to Patagonia Ushwaya in our Argentina
Speaker:route which really is an unbroken cycle ride continuous through the north and south and central
Speaker:Americas up until yet to Panama and the Dorian gap which you either boat or you in my case fly over
Speaker:oh you took a plane I was wondering I did I was yeah I was the wrong time of year Jef I basically if
Speaker:I was a little bit sooner this sun would have been out and it probably would be quite a pleasant ride
Speaker:for my time of year it was just going to be a choppy rather unpleasant let I hope this ends
Speaker:right right right right vahmadan is exactly exactly I so you started in where in Alaska did you start
Speaker:and when was that yeah I started up in the northern most accessible part of Alaska which is
Speaker:Deadhorse Prudobay which is yeah it's pretty much only really accessible because of the oil that is
Speaker:up there of course yeah and then you cycle down a supply line which pretty much shadows the pipeline
Speaker:running from Deadhorse down to Valdez which is where it's shipped out all the flying to
Speaker:right the giant pipeline and all that and when when was when was that when did you start yeah I started
Speaker:to bow as early as you can in the season which was around about the 9th of June and I was about the
Speaker:third person out that year the 9th of June of last year of last year of 2024 okay and then
Speaker:you're planning to get to where by the end of the trip where's the where's the final destination
Speaker:final destination is the southern tip down by Thiago Fueger yeah yeah yeah and Ushwaya is the
Speaker:the name of the town they also use it for a destination or a leaving point for the Antarctic cruises
Speaker:right right right and when do you how far from there are you when do you think you'll get there
Speaker:well I did have a quick look I'm roughly about 7500 kilometers which yeah even with the andes in
Speaker:between it's going to be a good um you generally stroke February uh right it'll be summer so
Speaker:it will hopefully it starts getting warmer the only thing is the winds which I'm kind of hoping
Speaker:to remind favor going from north to south I mean I had a I dated a woman who lived in Chile for 13
Speaker:years in what city was it it was a Punta Reina's which is right down there in Patagonia and her big
Speaker:she's triggered by the wind now because it's so it's like a constant gale force wind down there
Speaker:according to her so just preparing you Gary because it made me yeah it made me windy much
Speaker:appreciate you yeah yeah no I have ridden the reverse from Ushwaya to funnily enough this town
Speaker:aras and then I returned and got back to Lima and then flew into New Zealand that was the first part of
Speaker:my ride oh so you've already kind of done this part of the trip but just backwards I have this is
Speaker:roughly as far north as I got 10 years ago so this is part of a what a bigger a granderth a grander
Speaker:scheme of biking across the entire world yeah I started really I was going to end in Australia
Speaker:because I did go through the point system to enter and emigrate to Australia however
Speaker:during the ride I realized that it was such a fantastic lifestyle and I got less less
Speaker:interested in going back to my former job which you know prior to the cycling I was it was quite
Speaker:important to me right right right so when did you decide to do this incredible baking around the world
Speaker:to a degree it was a good 10 years ago and I set off with the intention of it being a six month
Speaker:cycle ride basically I'd saved South America as a big trip so I looked it I was working off
Speaker:shore at the sun and I was looking at it and I thought with there's no train routes it'll all be
Speaker:by buses which I didn't really fancy and then I thought about a motorbike but I've got no real
Speaker:history of riding motorbike or maintaining one and I thought that sounds like a disaster waiting
Speaker:to happen right so I basically trialled a fold up bike in Burma for three weeks I've been flown
Speaker:into Bangkok and bought one and yeah I was like this is doable so then it was just going to be a six
Speaker:month cycle trip back to Australia but by the time I got there I thought I just as well cycle
Speaker:round Australia whilst I've got the visa right and then during those two years I was like yeah
Speaker:Japan might be nice and then I'm Southeast Asia Northern India Kazakhstan you've done all these
Speaker:you like to cross all these countries all these places yeah wow yeah wow did you train before you
Speaker:started this whole adventure or did you just start doing it yeah I wasn't much of a cyclist
Speaker:I'm probably even when I'm not cycling around the world I this cycling's not something I think
Speaker:oh I'll get on the bike so I just find it the best way to travel the right pace you see things you
Speaker:interact with people you're not trying to just get from A to B and then do stuff when you get to B
Speaker:you journey starts when you set off in the morning you get some wonderful camping spots yeah there's
Speaker:a lot of positives it does keep you fit obviously it's good for your mentoring down physical health so
Speaker:yeah I hadn't done a great deal but I was trying to keep myself a little bit active on the treadmill
Speaker:and a few things whilst working off sure otherwise you can you can get a bit drawn into 16-17 hour days
Speaker:and a lot of that can be in and around the computer sure yeah tell me about it yeah so you just
Speaker:have been biking and then wherever you feel like kind of stopping if you're like in the middle of
Speaker:the nowhere you just pitch a tent and and set up and sleep there wherever it is wow some some
Speaker:countries favor or lean to it a little bit better than others some the Columbia and Ecuador for example
Speaker:a lot of it was fenced in right so if you get to that sort of the North Island in New Zealand was the
Speaker:same I don't want to jump over a fence to put a tent up so you try to get you know you try to get to
Speaker:either a designated camp spot or you look for accommodation which was affordable obviously for
Speaker:Ecuador and Columbia right right I mean it's a very inexpensive way to travel I'd imagine you know
Speaker:you're not paying for any of the buses trains or whichever else right there's no fuel involved
Speaker:you know yet you eat cheaper probably than you would even if you were you know backpacking
Speaker:for sure for sure you know the cost will definitely kept down I mean are you tired
Speaker:suddenly enough for the first time in the years that I've been riding my legs played up when I got
Speaker:to to the south of Columbia and that was a yeah yeah that was a that was a good eye opener it made me
Speaker:focus on how much I was doing per day right the heels and no joke obviously when you're a little bit
Speaker:younger you don't have to worry about these things but nutrition fluids so yeah over how are you now Gary
Speaker:55s now unbelievable does this the longest trip you've done the previous one started off that it was
Speaker:going to be six months and ended up five years so all right but that was with some breaks you were
Speaker:you're not biking the entire time absolutely right no no there they're in fairness you've got to
Speaker:you've got to pace it otherwise you do mentally find yourself a little bit under it's you've
Speaker:got to get the balance otherwise it can become bit of a like a slot yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you
Speaker:stopped in Mexico City for two or three weeks or something didn't you I mean that you were there for a
Speaker:one yeah yeah yeah the other one with that Jef is basically I was once I'd got out of North America
Speaker:I felt as if I was trying to chase the seasons I couldn't start in Alaska right too soon I had to
Speaker:get over Colorado before it started to snow yeah you know and then basically by the time I got to
Speaker:but the bar har I knew I could slow down in central America right to try to time it to get to
Speaker:Patagonia in the summertime yeah and how many miles do you think that'll be the whole this whole trip
Speaker:yeah yeah yeah no I don't really plan much Jef really I just I quite like the spontaneuity of
Speaker:you know turning up to places that you don't have a clue about sure I have a little bit of an idea
Speaker:of the route you generally know you know roughly where you're heading but that can change you know
Speaker:within a couple of days so yeah I'm basically gearing up now for a route that's called the
Speaker:Aruvian I think they call it great divide which is something that some intracorbit people beforehand
Speaker:in fact they were called pikes on bikes it's now been designated by bikepacking.com and it's one of
Speaker:their main South American routes so that's good at least it'll be made for bikes I think that's
Speaker:probably I would I would get sketched out because I don't like sharing the road with cars it freaks me
Speaker:out I feel like I'm gonna get hit by a car that can happen Jef yeah yeah you do you do hear of cyclists out
Speaker:and about that unfortunately you do get hit and unfortunately motorists don't consider that you've
Speaker:been riding for seven or eight hours that day and your legs ain't very good right um right they presume
Speaker:you just ride around a corner right and what kind of uh what are you what are you taking with you
Speaker:what do you have on your bike yeah one of the first things when you first set off is you generally
Speaker:overpack you take a lot of nice to have there were yeah extra couple of tops and a few other things so
Speaker:once you've been out of while you streamline that down because as soon as you hit the hills
Speaker:your little t-shirt you can fill I carry and again you sort of do your homework to select decent
Speaker:quality stuff that packs down small volume and is light um so yeah camping gear sleeping stuff
Speaker:cooking stuff warm gear warm clothes wet clothes well this is how we wet wear the clothes
Speaker:and obviously something full maintenance on the bike sure how many flats have you gotten on
Speaker:this trip I reload at I was doing fine in North America I had a couple of random ones right
Speaker:that you you think that's a bit unfortunate yeah but then when I got to the bar heart I uh I was
Speaker:starting to pick up quite a few spawns basically I think they go ahead so they call them even
Speaker:Arizona maybe and once it starts it seems as if you just end up on a bad run of them so you
Speaker:soon you know you're constantly taking that back wheel off but since Mexico and in fact just after
Speaker:I think I just had it done Jef when I came around he was before we did the balloon trip I went
Speaker:and tubeless and all right right right right that had been going fantastic up until where did I get to
Speaker:somewhere in Columbia plenty of glass on the road just happened to hit uh well the tire was getting
Speaker:a little bit thin as well and then it was just too big to plug so wow we put a tube in it and it was
Speaker:a new tire so and uh touch would be good ever since so have there been like what have been some of
Speaker:the highlights of this this bike trip itself have there been anything like what's what stood out
Speaker:in terms of even either experiences or places or whatever it is any uh any take away yeah Alaska
Speaker:scenery is stunning um you get a north uh what was it British Columbia a lot of river riding you
Speaker:know the road is alongside a river that's always beautiful right the ride down from north
Speaker:America which is uh the one they race just so varied I don't know what I anticipated for that
Speaker:ride but it just changed within the day so you know it is the sort of thing when you're riding you're
Speaker:looking for you don't want unfortunately like a bit of north of Australia or then there's a stretching
Speaker:Argentina heading south which is um the Pampus it's just the same hour after hour day after day
Speaker:right right you know if you if you get the variety uh bar hull is fantastic in Mexico makes the
Speaker:co-itself was um a great surprise I really didn't know what to expect there central America that
Speaker:been oh Salvador had fantastic friendly people um they wrote wonderful beaches obviously through
Speaker:that Columbia was a treat Ecuador um again lovely people Peru is just stunning I came up for
Speaker:a gorge the other day wow I hadn't expected it I came down the gorge as the opposite side on a
Speaker:different river and I thought that was absolutely amazing and then I think the reason that it was so
Speaker:slow coming back up the gorge was good stopping so often to take the right right right amazing have
Speaker:there been any um I mean have people been generally nice that you've met have there has there been any
Speaker:animosity or is it generally mostly like just super friendly curious people that you've met I think
Speaker:that's one of the absolute advantages Jef with the um riding with a bicycle for some reason you
Speaker:just more approachable I think you're a less of a threat or whatever I don't you know I don't know
Speaker:what it is um people are more curious you're also in more remote places I've generally
Speaker:find if you're at a countryside of pretty much any country people are wonderful that makes sense
Speaker:it's the city you know it's the cities where people are condensed there's a lot more alcohol and drug
Speaker:in the cities more traffic people are stressed yeah yeah and people are looking for a variety out
Speaker:in the country and you know some strange British guy comes biking down the street yeah especially
Speaker:some of it's like what on earth are you doing right right and the other bit is is being English the
Speaker:ability to um or push yourself to learn foreign languages um unfortunately a little lacking when
Speaker:you meet other Europeans or whomever uh they speak two or three languages it does make you feel a
Speaker:bit humble yeah how's the Spanish going is it coming along well Gary yeah that was timely um yeah
Speaker:I'm comfortable enough that I can sort of get by people understand that uh you know you only
Speaker:speak in Poco a spaniard the um but uh it was evident when I uh ordered the um breakfast the um day and
Speaker:all I heard was fritter and up until then I'd have chicken fritters so I thought this yeah for breakfast
Speaker:and uh I ended up with quarter of a fried guinea pig and I was like yeah right but they eat a lot
Speaker:of guinea pigs yeah they love it did you try it how was it well had to it it was basically what I
Speaker:ordered that for X was yeah there's not a lot on meat on it surprisingly right right I think um
Speaker:probably the much the same as trying to eat a parrot um but uh they yeah and it's ironically
Speaker:colored it's ironically colored a pig because there's really not a lot of meat on there there's not a lot
Speaker:I didn't find much at all why ended up eating the skin I think it was but um yeah they sell yeah
Speaker:obviously eat guinea pig but they sell rabbits so yeah I find it quite unusual was it good uh no
Speaker:fortunate it came with sweet so uh yeah most of it ended up on the uh side dish right so no guinea pig
Speaker:I mean for breakfast that seems a little bit much I mean for any more really but breakfast
Speaker:a tola yeah well that's what I was thinking I didn't think I could go too wrong with a breakfast but
Speaker:then all of a sudden I'm like yeah you need to um you need to start thinking about it but so yeah
Speaker:there's you know there's been other soups and things that you get um kidneys or um some liver in
Speaker:there uh you're basically gonna have to consume some awful some ralamalong yeah and a lot of time
Speaker:it's not bad like honestly like they've been cooking it like that for so long that they're able to
Speaker:make it into some like when I lived in Korea I had a lot of stuff I didn't even know what I was eating
Speaker:and uh but it was good I made sometimes I just don't even didn't even want to know what I was
Speaker:eating because like it's better not to know that you're eating you know whatever brains or whatever
Speaker:but that's exactly the process no that's it that's it it is it's uh and you see others that are eating
Speaker:that you think um basically sometimes it's like we're done even sure it you've basically yeah it's um
Speaker:it's gonna be what your main meal is today you're gonna um you get it down right right right when in
Speaker:Rome as it as it were have there been any profound um issues that you've had like aside from the
Speaker:the flat tires and so forth and and I don't know but there have been any like like issues of
Speaker:getting caught camping somewhere whatever it is you know um on this trip or any other trip really
Speaker:no no I think um I'd anticipate a few more border issues right um yeah you know which is in the back
Speaker:of your mind but that's probably because you've read too much news or you've listened to too many
Speaker:people's opinions that haven't actually been through there um the only time that I've ever really had
Speaker:an issue with camping uh was when I was walking around the south coast of England it was one guy
Speaker:walking a dog that moves me on uh other than that anywhere I was in the world has been fine
Speaker:it's interesting though once you get like my I was struck by how much I like Mexico City particularly
Speaker:and Mexico in general and it was surprising as an American going there because like the media and
Speaker:I'm sure in the UK too the media just tells you this is a terrifying place uh full of drug cartels
Speaker:and all these kind of things and certainly there are those things there but I found it to be one of
Speaker:the friendliest countries that I've been to in my life and uh the people were just I never felt any real
Speaker:meanness by anybody and when I tell people this when I when I got back and I tell people this they're
Speaker:still skeptical because the media yeah all they tell you is how terrible you know uh border problems
Speaker:blah blah blah blah it's like they want to divide us scary it's like they want us to hate each other
Speaker:it's weird or fear each other or something you know oh totally totally there's a there's definitely
Speaker:an agenda with the uh with the news yeah um yeah but like you say I was coming in and and definitely
Speaker:borders and or for some reason train stations you know they can be a bit sketchy but yeah for sure
Speaker:I uh did get warned a couple of times um as I was leaving uh America to be careful certainly in
Speaker:around the some parts of Mexico sure if they got um yeah yep and um you know it does um raise the
Speaker:concern uh and then you're just absolutely mystified where it comes from when you actually get
Speaker:they think these people are going out their way to look after me right it's almost it reminds me of
Speaker:like the drug war when I was a kid they would just say say no to drugs or I don't reckon would say
Speaker:say no to drugs like all the drugs so as soon as you ended up you grew up under that and you smoke
Speaker:a little weed you're like oh I'm fine then you're like oh maybe this is all bullshit yeah
Speaker:yeah before you know it yeah yeah then you're uh then you're then you're shooting a
Speaker:heroin before you know it and then yeah um that's it which is all we did in Mexico City me and you
Speaker:boy those were the times we're empty Gary all that all that and we're using Mexican heroin we
Speaker:yeah the other thing is that you yeah I'm not sure we actually were on a balloon it just felt like
Speaker:it yeah yeah there was um first pair you know Mexico was a fantastic place for lovely people I
Speaker:would go back there and ride a different route see more of it it was fantastic yeah I want to see
Speaker:more I'm going actually going back to Mexico City in at the beginning of December um for a week
Speaker:oh nice one excited about that one yeah yeah yeah so you said the initial reason for the trip was not
Speaker:really to bike around the world it was just to to travel around the world was the initial idea and
Speaker:you just kind of fell into biking as or as a result of experimentation yeah absolutely Jef
Speaker:it was but I've done a lot of um I travel with my work and I also done a lot of traveling anyway
Speaker:uh I've done the backpacking thing uh I've done various other you know ways of getting around uh
Speaker:and I was not I was a I was a bit older than I wanted to be if I was going to be in a bus doing the
Speaker:backpacking so yeah you know I thought oh it's the motorbike option um and then I really did think
Speaker:uh it's a broken leg at best uh for me on a motorbike right so uh I looked at my next
Speaker:um off period when I was uh three weeks on three weeks off I think it was uh um I've been four weeks
Speaker:on four weeks off right and um I looked at doing something with Burma uh my armor that did pretty much
Speaker:just sort of opened up since um before it was uh quite restricted and yeah still on the military
Speaker:control I think yeah and I sort of mentally avoided it rather than you know giving my toe in it but
Speaker:this it opened up and uh I looked at um a mountain bike uh tour for two weeks and it was just so
Speaker:expensive I just thought this is this is crazy they had the route the artinery on the website and uh
Speaker:I just looked at um how to get a bike to um Bangkok and then it was like why not just buy a fold up one
Speaker:in Bangkok fly it into um Yangong and uh ride the mandalay and uh yeah it was wave it you know obviously
Speaker:it looks like a clown bike you've got 18-inch wheels yeah kids loved it I'd actually like to see you
Speaker:riding that actually I think it'd be funny yeah I was so did the kids yeah so did the kids I spent the
Speaker:first 12 hours riding it one hand and just waving at these kids running alongside you should have
Speaker:gotten a horn like one of those right red nose red nose and everything right
Speaker:throwing out candies yeah yeah next time yeah square wheels maybe yeah yeah I'll videotape that I'll
Speaker:come out with a video camera for that with you I promise yeah yeah but there were a couple of weeks
Speaker:for that yep so yeah and then was convinced and then basically yeah do a little bit of a research
Speaker:on getting bike uh some of the gear and um yeah basically my contract came to an end uh I chose not
Speaker:to extend it and then basically flew into Ushuaia and rode up to Peru in the opposite direction from
Speaker:what I'm doing now and you were like yeah this works I like this yeah it was it was definitely doable
Speaker:and then like I say within that first six months I'm like yeah I don't need to end basically I stopped
Speaker:looking for new contracts it just basically I was still getting off as coming in and it just sort of like
Speaker:I just dwindled away from it and then all of a sudden it was like actually the one really need to
Speaker:one go back and you're working on the oil rigs right I was I loved it I loved that I liked the um
Speaker:flying fly out I liked the remoteness it was an element of you know everyone on there there's no dead
Speaker:wood basically every every bed is taken by a person that is productive right um you obviously got
Speaker:the politics involved here and there but I was contracting and brought into fixed problems so
Speaker:as long as I was diplomatic things worked for me and how did that work were you so at what four months
Speaker:on four months off or something like that or how did it work no no four weeks or four weeks on right
Speaker:they they extended basically so that there's so there's less cost for the flights and there's
Speaker:less logistics if you're domestic i.e. if you were working in the mayor of america and go from
Speaker:Mexico or the British North Sea you're two weeks on two weeks off in Norway they push it the other
Speaker:way you've got two weeks on three weeks off but um Norway's a bit of an exceptional country um yeah
Speaker:and I loved it it was um I like production if it was if you were getting stuff done you could see the
Speaker:results yeah and um you know i was on a good run so they would like have to helicopter you out
Speaker:probably i would imagine yeah i was flying in from south east Asia connecting in Dubai um and going
Speaker:over to the my last role was in brazil which was excellent because the brazilians were really
Speaker:friendly really bit um sat up so it's mostly brazilians under on the oil rig depending on which sector
Speaker:you know in the in Nigeria it was Nigerians mostly um with it you get a sprinkling of experts
Speaker:for the brazilian one it was a chevron um uh platform so you also had um uh americans in the
Speaker:more senior roles basically to ensure that chevron procedures and safety standards are uh maintain
Speaker:rate yeah and then you would get to the closest point which um for me was um uh victoria uh and then
Speaker:you would you would do the last hour and a half in the helicopter wow yeah and when when you say
Speaker:about the helicopter there just saw about that and when you say about the helicopter the um the um
Speaker:there was um where was he from it was it was american but i can't remember exactly where it was from
Speaker:and i did um he was retiring he served this whole time i think with chevron so it was quite the uh
Speaker:retirement package but um uh and i you know i spoke to him and wished him all the best and just
Speaker:all i said or as you know you're gonna be going traveling is there anything you know
Speaker:japan or whatever do you want to see other you say Gary basically he said i've run my statistics
Speaker:and my percentages he said it's through all the hours i have flown i should have crashed something
Speaker:and i should have ditched a helicopter right i should have done something so he was going back to his
Speaker:farm and that was that was his retirement don't push right yeah yeah i had um maintenance guys
Speaker:of the in um Nigeria that had been kidnapped um other people that had been in helicopters that
Speaker:have basically ditched wow as they call it wow yeah and one of the things when you do the offshore
Speaker:survival courses um it's basically highlights um how real it's gonna get it's not gonna go down on
Speaker:a nice sunny day it's gonna go down in the dark on a really bad weather uh the sea is gonna be
Speaker:ferocious you'll be lucky to get out with the helicopter because there'd be so much panic or um
Speaker:a non-scuffling non-swimmers in there or something uh then you've got to get to a life raft it's
Speaker:obviously gonna try to blow away from the helicopter you've got to cut yourself um free from the
Speaker:helicopter and not get dragged down and then you've only got X amount of time and exposure for the
Speaker:North Sea if you don't zip up your um exposure suit which is almost like a dry suit yeah uh you've
Speaker:got about three minutes and if it's zipped up i think you got three hours yeah no thanks i'm good
Speaker:i'm good i saw Titanic and i was demirate with i don't need to do that um and how many people
Speaker:around these rigs at the same time how many will have big weather crew for these things depends on
Speaker:the degree of um production or processing that needs to be done with the oil that's coming up
Speaker:out the ground right some places like North Sea it comes up pretty good so you but there's some massive
Speaker:ones in the Norwegian sector there they come any people yeah on the platforms yeah uh typically um
Speaker:you know 50 uh you're not gonna get the thing is is you know when you're designing it you're not gonna
Speaker:you these numbers will be all calculated uh because of the weight and um you know just the uh
Speaker:physical putting it together right right and before you take it out where it is so yeah it you
Speaker:know they got they got turbans on there there's you know they could power a small town or you know
Speaker:right but uh yeah yeah yeah it was good yeah really interesting really you've got or you know
Speaker:you got diversity from um uh the electrical uh the instrumentation the process guys the maintenance
Speaker:guys yeah yeah safety you know books everything do they uh do these things move at all or do they
Speaker:are they pretty static does or do they sway in the in the water depends how far off shore you are
Speaker:oh all right so if you're in like rougher waters it's gonna that's good you're gonna
Speaker:well the technology mainly by the um americans in texas uh started on shore uh where they developed
Speaker:all the drilling and um let's say knowledge of it all uh and then as they realized that there was
Speaker:some just in the shore uh they moved slightly off shore and then as technology sort of developed
Speaker:they've moved further and further away from the shore um so they are basically the anchored
Speaker:uh a semi-murse submersible or um chain down you know there's others now that they use uh
Speaker:converted oil tankers really so the whole production um facilities gets put on the oil tanker
Speaker:they call them floating production our units which um you know they obviously bob up and down in
Speaker:the sea and then um they got some storage and then another oil tank will come along however
Speaker:often depending on how high the production rates are um and offload and then the cycle will just
Speaker:continue and you're like when you're on one of these things you're in the middle of nowhere in
Speaker:the ocean generally speaking so you just look around and it's just water as far as the I can see
Speaker:beautiful absolutely stunning the stars must have been and must have been incredible
Speaker:it's just gorgeous yeah it's just gorgeous there's some days we get by for the north sea there
Speaker:were some days where the the the water will just be absolutely mirrored flat car yeah blissful you
Speaker:see the sun come up you might see some other um flares or where they flare off some of the excess gas
Speaker:in the distance um and then another day that sea will just be violent and it's just like
Speaker:I'm not on something big enough to be out there right um right so that it is uh quite daunting
Speaker:sometimes but yeah you know the busy it was yeah this you you're up it sort of five o'clock or
Speaker:something in the morning and you see the sun break through and it's just like yeah this is you
Speaker:wouldn't want to be anywhere else but then you are there to work you know yeah there's not a lot of
Speaker:social life with it right so were there ever any like instant someone of these rigs that was like
Speaker:uh uh dangerous or sketchy in any way were you ever in any danger I will say the Norwegian one was
Speaker:uh not sorry not the Norwegian one the Nigerian one was was a little bit sketchy we were on a platform
Speaker:that was designed for something else um it wasn't particularly sized accordingly uh and it was meant
Speaker:to degas which we don't do in most western areas um prior to it going to a secondary year or main
Speaker:facility okay um and uh it had um what can be best described is sort of like the rubber pipe
Speaker:work uh connecting between the two um platforms and uh one of the um flexible hoses basically
Speaker:blew out three days before I was due to go and it just basically shook the um whole platform from
Speaker:side to side you've got gas released it sort of 70 bar a lot of it you've still what the flare going
Speaker:people were running they were all on the helideck and fortunately one of the um local uh supervisor
Speaker:a one the supervisor I think it was the lead operator uh decided on his own to go back to the control
Speaker:room maybe you should have hit it beforehand or the supervisor anyway whoever should have uh and
Speaker:then um yes shut the fancy safety valves off but yeah that was um that could have been a
Speaker:a major incident well he sure weren't there at the time so that's dashed the bullet on him yeah um
Speaker:so and it pays quite well as I think you said the the oil rig work as I imagine yeah it would pay
Speaker:quite well because it's somewhat dangerous and you know remote and all that kind of thing hard
Speaker:to have a relationship when you're on an oil rig relationship is a classic one you it's it's
Speaker:unnatural really because you're you used to nine to five only spending weekends in a few hours in
Speaker:the evening these ones you've got no contact and then full contact for the two three four weeks whatever
Speaker:it is so yeah it's quite a quite an odd one because the other partner obviously forms a large style
Speaker:whilst you're away working and whichever way around it and with the with the money the money is
Speaker:good though you know it's factored in but one of the main things is for half of the year you're in the
Speaker:middle of the ocean you can't spend it right so you're saving money right right exactly exactly that's
Speaker:the thing that sort of um gets uh missed out of the equation it's not like you come back with a whole
Speaker:briefcase full of cash right right it's just that you're not spending it exactly exactly the other
Speaker:unfortunate thing is is um if you know when when younger people get the get the the money gets blown
Speaker:thing you know there's fast cars and lots of low-speed and whatever else right um so you know they can
Speaker:rather than saving it invest in it or whatever it is you see quite older gentlemen still out there
Speaker:with with a couple of divorces and whatever helps and uh you know really then should have done their time
Speaker:and no longer be exposed to it right but you got out because you didn't make these mistakes
Speaker:or you're able to yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um so how long did you work how many years did
Speaker:you work on these things uh I worked up till I was uh 45 and you started when you were when I left
Speaker:university so that would have been 23 I think wow I didn't go straight I didn't go straight into the
Speaker:offshore to be honest I uh I had no network or family connections uh I wasn't from the um
Speaker:local oil or gas areas right my first job was in um what was it it was uh a coatings industry which
Speaker:uh photo resist and then uh I took a shift manager's role in an edible oil refinery in um uh the
Speaker:olidogs in London huh and so then you worked in the Orox for 20 25 years or so uh 20 years sounds
Speaker:like about give or take yeah give or take yeah and then was that the place that you kind of traveling
Speaker:around the world doing this was this where you got kind of the wonder less that you're now
Speaker:you know you're now exploring it now um I might have had it a little bit before because I did um
Speaker:I came out of the job from the olidogs Jef and then did go traveling all right so it's always
Speaker:been a thing all right yeah I did I did the whole um um year out well a little bit later I obviously
Speaker:had to pay off my student loans and um get some money together which is what I did in those
Speaker:with those first couple of jobs um sure sure and then um yeah went um where do we start mainly
Speaker:starting in India I suppose and then Southeast Asia and then dance for into Australia which is a pretty
Speaker:common group for Europeans yeah yeah yeah and then um yeah came back and was fortunate enough because
Speaker:they got the job through the institute of chemical engineers um I got back in touch with them when
Speaker:I got back to the UK and they were like well you did um where were the uh uh olidogs shift managers
Speaker:role how about are you still interested in going offshore I was like yes and that was my in so
Speaker:I was I was a bit fortunate yeah yeah yeah so where do you think that this desire to see the world
Speaker:comes from like is it just a thing that do is like your family or anybody anybody in your life that
Speaker:influenced you to do this like for myself it was kind of my sister started traveling after she was
Speaker:and or whilst it was in college and kind of got me wanting to do it um but I don't know I mean how
Speaker:did it happen for you was it just something that you were like I want to see the world yeah I think
Speaker:to be honest I traveled with a mate from university to and um he got in touch with me whilst I was
Speaker:basically still you know working in London I you know I hadn't really thought rethought a bit and he
Speaker:said that that he was getting a little bit uh over the job he was in and he said you still think
Speaker:about um going around a world unlike where yeah absolutely uh he said well he said I'm ready to jack
Speaker:you know right imminent they I said we're gonna have to give us a couple of months to um get a little
Speaker:bit organized and to say him a goodbyes but um yeah now obviously so at university he was aware and
Speaker:I was aware that I wanted to travel we didn't do a lot of holidays as um as a family um mainly we
Speaker:you know let's just say we didn't have them did the spare cash for it right but um you know my
Speaker:granddad did travel but we didn't know well he basically was gonna leave until to Australia uh and
Speaker:then New Zealand and he came back he left I think when he was 16 so it's quite bold for a
Speaker:back and back at the turn of century yeah yeah um he was working in um coal mines in New Zealand
Speaker:yeah and uh was on better money there than he was when he came back to the UK and he only came back
Speaker:because he had a set there's a state with them or what what what basically I think his dad was done
Speaker:which is so well and then he met my grandmother when um he came back so that was that's where that
Speaker:changed but maybe it did trigger something but uh I I just there's a lot to see out there yeah there is
Speaker:and it's interesting that some people I mean in my perspective as the United States but it seems
Speaker:like some people do very much want to travel not a ton of people in my experience and some
Speaker:people just don't have any interest in seeing the world and I just don't really understand why you
Speaker:wouldn't want to see other places in the world but then again some people I think a lot of it comes
Speaker:out of maybe fear you know I mean or you know getting out of your comfort zone all these kind of things
Speaker:but uh but yeah I do agree with you there Jef do you bit the bit where I don't understand why you
Speaker:wouldn't want to see it right right and a lot a lot of people don't I could there's also the bit um
Speaker:you know because I have to think um why um I think people get used to their own life yeah they nest
Speaker:and they cut they nest they do and they get comfortable with what they know and are comfortable
Speaker:with two week holiday wherever it is yeah um you know they save and do that and then
Speaker:that and then they're back into whatever else I suppose they get um you know a structure I think
Speaker:it's different as well uh with children if you've got children for sure yeah yeah yeah
Speaker:I think especially if that happens early on then you sort of really you focus shifts and then I think
Speaker:that's possibly where the um travel around the world bit um gets put on the shelf I also think
Speaker:that it's also you know fear of the unknown as well and also a fear of perhaps being like confronted
Speaker:with a reality that you've just you've already decided that whatever Mexico's dangerous place so
Speaker:if you went there and found out otherwise your your your your reality would be you know somehow shattered
Speaker:in a way I don't know well I think I think what happens that they they choose safer destinations
Speaker:yeah they go to the beach resorts and yeah yeah yeah yeah we're in Mexico but really you're just in
Speaker:like an American resort in Mexico or whatever the home the stuff like cancun I hear that is basically
Speaker:then you get more trouble there even though it's the popular tourist thing then then you do
Speaker:other areas right right you know what they perceive as the uh safe eruption is the more dangerous oxygen
Speaker:well I think the cartels probably spend a lot of time there because they can sell the drugs to the
Speaker:tourists and all that kind of thing but who knows I don't know anyway is there a place you've been
Speaker:in the world Gary that is like a highlight where you're like uh that was or one of the not maybe
Speaker:not number one I know it's hard to do number one but what's like one of the favorite places that
Speaker:you've been to in the whole world you know Jef that's one of the um that's one of the most frequently
Speaker:asked questions really when you're cycling around and you know yeah and um I generally say
Speaker:the last country that I've been in I name that because the the memories of freshest
Speaker:you know you can list off stuff in various other things but to answer your question Japan was
Speaker:amazing yeah for me mostly because it was totally uh so so there and my perception I think was just
Speaker:it was going to be massive Tokyo and then I got there and it's 99% Japanese so you get the full
Speaker:Japanese it's very very homogeneous yeah yeah you know um lovely polite safe interesting um I like
Speaker:the cultural difference to what we're used to um the other one there is Nepal you've got the Himalayas
Speaker:which are unlike anything else sure stunning uh you've got the Buddhist it's a bit like India but it's
Speaker:without the hassle right so Nepal is it's up there uh selfie stages cool again yeah mainly culturally
Speaker:lovely people um safe the Buddhist influence is always good there are you know I think there's
Speaker:really special places I don't think of um there's many that you go to and um come away uh disappointed
Speaker:you know India is just so extreme I don't think you can come away with India without having some
Speaker:perception love it or hate it yeah I don't know that I could do India I've heard so many stories about
Speaker:just uh all the uh the touts and so forth I don't know that I could but uh who knows personal space in
Speaker:India Jef you basically you know it's uh there's 1.4 billion Indians yeah and uh it's not the
Speaker:biggest the countries and uh personal space is not something they um uh highly regard oh yeah
Speaker:obviously yeah I experienced that in South Korea it was the personal space is not even a thing it
Speaker:was crazy uh even a thing yeah yeah yeah and men holding hands which was weird that was a
Speaker:that's an Indian thing yeah yeah and one of my one of my teachers at one point we were just walking
Speaker:down the street after having like an introductory meeting and he tries to hold my hand and I'm like
Speaker:yeah yeah no no I'm okay yeah yeah we don't we don't do this we don't do that I mean I'm all for
Speaker:trying to you know integrate myself into the culture but I'm not gonna have that I troll the
Speaker:man's hold the middle age man's hand yeah um yeah yeah yeah yeah is there any where you are still wanting
Speaker:to go is there what's next on the list I was gonna um get down to wish fire and if I had the time
Speaker:in right on the season get under where I was uh the sub-tip of um Argentina okay it's just south of
Speaker:the Patagonian region right it may even be in right um yeah Ushuaia it's about um okay I'm not gonna
Speaker:try and spell it me it took ten and I was gonna come back up but um yeah I will be going back to the
Speaker:UK and sort of a few things that are popped up and I've I've saved Europe because it's close and
Speaker:I hopefully can do that at any point in the city that's easy yeah yeah that's like an easy one at
Speaker:those point yeah so um I you know I was gonna probably try to get back up to sort of like Mexico yeah
Speaker:um for the day so I was gonna try to um see a lot more of this area um but circumstances are
Speaker:sort of but limited that idea for now so I would come back definitely yeah I would love to explore
Speaker:more in Mexico the other one was I was gonna ride from Cairo to um Cape which is also a you know
Speaker:pretty well known cycle route right the east of australia um of africa it had always been
Speaker:perceived as the safer option in the west yeah uh whereas whereas now it could be the opposite
Speaker:you can't continuously ride through the countries on the east so um that it it's less appealing if you
Speaker:if you can ride the route straight uh and not have to worry but um putting it in a plane then fair
Speaker:enough uh I would probably um I would probably consider more china really uh I had a quick look in the
Speaker:southern bit the Yunnan and the Sichuan region uh which I enjoyed so I would consider China um
Speaker:Iceland you're gonna do Iceland because there's a ring road there and people do that all the time
Speaker:they do they do uh beautiful country yeah and uh the only thing is is use it would be good you would
Speaker:specifically fly it also windy too yeah very windy though too yeah yeah you'd have to make sure you
Speaker:didn't get too cold yeah and air I would imagine rather expensive but um yeah yeah um it would be good
Speaker:to good to ride but uh again probably again a little later on when you when you haven't got
Speaker:or I wouldn't be able to designate large chunks of time right if I if you know it's a bit like
Speaker:cycling around Ireland that would be great yeah but again I can do that in the summer yeah uh from
Speaker:the UK yeah I'll do that with you Gary I would love to do that when I was in Ireland like you can
Speaker:sit bike pass everywhere and they're like beautiful well paved bike paths all around the country
Speaker:and it's just yeah well we're lying that up Jef we'll get us all without yeah yeah well
Speaker:to do that once I get it once I get a job Gary oh or once the podcast takes off yeah
Speaker:things because so out before yeah I need to get we get some money first but uh yeah yeah once we get
Speaker:them yeah that money once we get that sort like the food thing and the money thing figured out then
Speaker:we'll talk about doing in Ireland yeah yeah I know for these bike trip yeah well the other side of
Speaker:that one would be that it does the weather there is kind of shit so it would be a lot of like
Speaker:you know it does rain quite a bit so it would be a wet one it would be a wet one you basically have to
Speaker:have to be prepared to get very wet so it would be wet gear yeah yeah you can't can't can't
Speaker:from would be okay but you don't have to get used to basically putting on wet clothes um yeah maybe
Speaker:not all right I take it back I don't I don't want to go I don't want to go anymore I'm gonna go to
Speaker:somewhere else Gary I don't want to go to I don't want to go there we'll just go back to Mexico
Speaker:and go somewhere else make it go yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Speaker:down down uh we can get more of that spectacular heroin we got in in Mexico City and uh just get it
Speaker:right and just fly right right right right right it's easier to bike when you're on that heroin that's
Speaker:what you always said that's what I saw in jazz yeah yeah yeah yeah that's the thing we haven't talked
Speaker:about is how you were doing this entire trip uh just doing heroin the whole way isn't that right
Speaker:we just mentioned that yeah it's right right um which is interesting not something I don't bring out
Speaker:very often yeah no I know you normally to talk about it but you know we like people to be honest
Speaker:on this podcast so yeah yeah um Gary just I mean functional heroin addict to a degree that's
Speaker:really impressive wow what was the uh uh uh in the the Rolling Stones uh lead guitarist or bassist bass
Speaker:gear Keith uh Keith Richards yeah who should be dead 80 times by this point yeah it's just right
Speaker:yeah you're like the biking you're like the biking version of Keith Richards Gary
Speaker:and I love his dress sense yeah yeah yeah he's got a cigarette hang out of your mouth
Speaker:the needle out of your arm biking down the road I'm crazy um he Gary doesn't
Speaker:do heroin while he bikes just just clamor for anybody who doesn't understand that's right we've
Speaker:that are just clearly like Joshy and yeah yeah uh we did ride in an air balloon together though so
Speaker:that was actually a thing we definitely did that then we weren't lying on the floor we did that
Speaker:was like squat yeah I never thought I'd go on an air balloon it was pretty incredible that was
Speaker:that was and I gotta say I think for for a flight it was um it was absolutely stunning going over
Speaker:the same no it was it was it was one of the you know you do a lot of touristy things when you go to
Speaker:places and then some of it is a point and some of them are good but that one over yeah oversold
Speaker:except for the ride back was the nightmare part for me yes yeah yeah when he when he basically dropped
Speaker:other people off and uh when out of his via as opposed to just like I don't know what we did but
Speaker:uh we did something um yeah I think it was all the heroin you were doing in the back of the
Speaker:got in that's right and chatting to him all the time right right right um well Gary the last
Speaker:question which doesn't seem appropriate based on our conversation about the biking but the last
Speaker:question I do ask people at the end of the the podcast is what do you think happens when we die
Speaker:wow interesting um trains who's there pace there um well usually the conversations more about
Speaker:you know I mean this has been a focus of your biking and all that kind of thing so it's but it
Speaker:is a very much uh it does feel like a 180 in this case yes you're right okay it's sometimes there
Speaker:is a little bit more philosophical uh for a loss for so soft obstacle yeah the thing you got it
Speaker:got there um it's funny that that's um that is quite an interesting um
Speaker:pointy question up until for quite a while I was um to the uh opinion that um you did just basically
Speaker:run your course and uh there there was nothing afterwards however I'm starting to find
Speaker:there there possibly is a little bit more to your uh soul and uh levels of energy um whether or not
Speaker:there is a particular chance of reincarnation so I yeah I'm undecided at the moment I'm certainly
Speaker:not going to say that uh that I'm um that does lead into a creator or non-creator type
Speaker:right right question which does sort of suggest um before the big bang there was nothing how do
Speaker:um have nothing and then everything so um yeah it could well be um yeah there is who knows who
Speaker:knows consciousness might live well that's yes consciousness yeah is is um probably a better
Speaker:description than soul yeah yeah yeah it's so much easier to believe that this is it when you're like
Speaker:20 years old isn't it and then as you get older yeah so you have to start to yeah um
Speaker:again again when we've answered when you when you get there you think oh people only think like
Speaker:that because they're getting closer to the end and they want something else um and they don't
Speaker:they're not comfortable with the idea that it does just end right but it's it's more than that
Speaker:yeah I think so too you know you're thinking changes and it's like actually nothing
Speaker:doesn't quite isn't quite enough um of an answer could well be because I mean you know there's
Speaker:greater minds that do actually uh split the difference that um you know got physicists that do
Speaker:and don't believe in it um astrologers as yes whichever it is so um yeah um I'm still um
Speaker:not completely convinced whereas before I was quite a stringent and uh 80s thinking that there
Speaker:is nothing else you know it was quite um you know best said blaseng about the fact that whoever
Speaker:thought there was other things I was quite happy for them to think it sure but I was thinking
Speaker:their way off the mark whereas now I'm actually like I don't believe that um you know which
Speaker:religion could be closest to the right truth but um the consciousness thing is the bit that um
Speaker:I find most open ended yeah and and I also think like I was raised Catholic so this the only
Speaker:spiritual ideas that was exposed to as a child was just like Christianity and pretty much it
Speaker:right and and I think as I've gotten older and as you know time has gone on there's been much more of
Speaker:an exploration of what even the nature of consciousness is and much more many more people meditating
Speaker:and many more people doing yoga and things like this this new age movement if you want to call it
Speaker:something and I think that's also contributed a little bit to my um rethinking of my beliefs about
Speaker:what perhaps this all is or what it is into etc etc yeah I am I went along to um what is it the 10 day
Speaker:so I let me treat in yeah in Thailand yeah um and reading around the the the belief of Buddhism
Speaker:it's you know it's sort of this well put together um I don't think um Western people
Speaker:adopt it particularly well you can't sort of uneducate the Christian upbringing um yeah and try to
Speaker:try to shoehorn it into the the Buddhist thing I think it suits the Southeast Asian and Indian and
Speaker:believes better yeah I agree although I would say that even a little bit of Buddhism is better than
Speaker:no Buddhism at all absolutely if you're gonna pick it should be there slogan yeah a little bit of
Speaker:Buddhism for start producing start producing t-shirts and mugs right um but I think if you're gonna choose
Speaker:one I choose that one if we were gonna have anything for sure if you just have if you could go
Speaker:carte blanche across the whole world and people have the choice of nothing and or that that is the one
Speaker:I think we should have right I mean Buddhism isn't really jive with capitalism either so I feel
Speaker:like that's kind of gonna not gonna work out too well although Jesus like wasn't big on money either
Speaker:but they've kind of forgotten about that part of the Bible I guess yeah I think um yeah basically I
Speaker:think they emphasize on materialism yeah the um so you know which is materialism is the one that
Speaker:is a progression of capitalism is moving in to greed right so if you could if you could moderate
Speaker:a form of capitalism I think you could probably have them working symbiotically I don't know but I
Speaker:know that I don't know and that's all that I need to know yeah that works well yeah anyway Gary it
Speaker:was wonderful to hear your voice again I haven't taught you for I don't know it's only been eight months
Speaker:but we had such a good time in Mexico City or one of these people that I've met I might
Speaker:met I might met in my travels that I'm like I'm gonna know Gary forever so I'm really glad I'm
Speaker:really glad I got a chance to cut up catch up my brain and yeah thanks for sitting down and talking
Speaker:about this year you're good luck on your biking how long are you gonna be when do you when do you
Speaker:head out tomorrow you said I will be tomorrow yeah I'll probably make it's always a little bit later
Speaker:than you think not you know when you're rockin' a tent up you can be gone by seven o'clock and a
Speaker:more right when you leave when you leave in a comfortable base of accommodation yeah yeah it is
Speaker:closer to half nine and how far how far are you gonna bike tomorrow anything how many how many miles
Speaker:do you do how many kilometers or miles do you do a day I used to say if you're roughly you can you can
Speaker:aim for a hundred K a day consistently without actually sort of blowing your legs right it's a little
Speaker:bit different in the mountains and all the headwinds so you've got a factor that in all and road surface
Speaker:if it's in a sealed you're you're good as gold if it's gravely things can get a little bit harder but
Speaker:what I normally do for the first one is I just sort of get moved itself away from where I'm leaving
Speaker:right and look for somewhere suitable early in the afternoon just so you've got a first day
Speaker:and a decent counter place right and 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 at this point on the trip
Speaker:like high enough where it was like hard to breathe yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean I'm not sure how high
Speaker:they get in North America but I mean close to yeah yeah that's a ridiculous question because some
Speaker:places up there like eight thousand nine thousand feet which is I don't know how many of your kilometers
Speaker:that is but you know yeah good 4,000 meters yeah easy and plus I think I think
Speaker:I think it pushes five and a bit yeah it's some of the passes possibly across the Andes god damn
Speaker:obviously they're Himalayas previously you're you're up high but for the beauty of all of that you
Speaker:get the views so yeah yeah and you're gonna be you're gonna be ripped Gary when you're done with
Speaker:this trip you're gonna be legitimately ripped the legs the legs right right the legs will be ripped
Speaker:the upper body yeah yeah yeah like the disproportionate you end up going home looking like a frog
Speaker:tiny little you end up going like what those like two or two front riders they all look like you
Speaker:know they have giant legs and little bit of upper bodies yeah it's kind of funny yeah yeah yeah
Speaker:well you know you can you can glutton you can be a glutton when you get back to the England and eat
Speaker:all the delicious British food that your country is known for that's so well thank you yeah
Speaker:Boyle potatoes and boiled pizza and all that kind of thing. Yeah, it's amazing. It's amazing that everyone seems to have a big other well
Speaker:It gets good Indian food good Indian food. Yes, you do have good Indian food. Yeah, it's funny
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, all right Gary. Well wonderful talking to you. Thanks for doing this good luck on the ride keep me posted
Speaker:And yeah, let's keep in touch ma'am. I'll touch you again soon. I hope nice ones. You're absolutely keeping touch. Yeah, man
Speaker:Love you my friend. Love you too. And that was Gary Clark
Speaker:About to continue his trip south through the Peruvian Mountains and towards Tierra del Fuego
Speaker:It was great to catch up with Carrie and I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did and if you did enjoy this conversation
Speaker:Please share the podcast with someone 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
Speaker:Which is the brand new website for the podcast?
Speaker:It's a bit bare bones at the moment, but it gets the job done
Speaker:onefjefpod.com
Speaker:And if you'd like to follow Gary on his epic bike journey you can follow him on Instagram @Gary_Clark
Speaker:That's Gary
Speaker:underscore Clark C-L-A-R-K-E
Speaker:And if you'd like to follow this podcast on his epic podcast journey
Speaker:You can follow it on Instagram @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
Speaker:All this information 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. I'll see you soon very good Jefrey
Speaker:[BLANK_AUDIO]
