The Go Trek
In 2011 I got an email from a guy named Dave Cornthwaite, he was working with an editor who we both knew and was also in Pokhara learning to paraglide with some of my friends… He introduced himself and signed off with this –
“maybe we’ll meet one day, on land or in the sky!”
We did meet (on land!) and I learnt a bit about what he was up to.
Here was a man with a plan; Expedition 1000 – 25 journeys of 1000 miles or more each using a different form of non motorised transport. He’d already skateboarded across Australia, Kayaked the Murray River and was about to ride a tandem bicycle from Vancouver to Vegas…. as you do!
We joked about doing a journey together.
On 27th November last year I got an email from Dave, it was brief, he asked if I was interested in doing a 1500 mile journey across Europe on an ElliptiGO that he expected would take 6weeks.
I replied “Yes!”.
A few emails and a bit of logistical stuff later we arrive at now… In three weeks time, Dave and I will be setting off on our ElliptiGO’s to do a 3000 mile journey (I don’t remember when the distance got doubled!) across Europe. Encouraging people to join us from the five European countries we travel through we’ll be; raising money and awareness for breast cancer charity Coppafeel and sharing the love of good adventure with a simple message – Say Yes More!
We will also be attempting to set the world record for longest distance travelled by an ElliptiGO elliptical bicycle.
You may be wondering what is an ElliptiGO?
It’s a stand up bike that looks very different to anything you’ve seen before. Imagine a cross trainer with wheels, running without impact and being 8ft tall!
and officially an ElliptiGO is….
….the worlds first outdoor cross training device engineered specifically for runners. It combines the best of running, cycling and elliptical training. It delivers a high-performance workout experience that closely mimics running while eliminating the impact.
It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to ride an ElliptiGO. Generally it takes less than a minute to master and you immediately feel where it’s working! One of the things that I love the most about it is that you are so high up and as you travel you see so much. I like the thought of all the benefits of running without any impact. You can reach good speeds on them and they have gears so hills are no problem. No seat means you can’t sit and ‘rest’ as you would on a normal bike, but you can stand still and coast along which gives you a break if you need it. I’m not a huge fan of being in the gym so for me bringing the cross trainer outdoors is ideal. I’d recommend everyone to have a go!
The first part of our journey is down through the UK so please come and join us or just say hello if you can… You can follow our journey and see our whereabouts here –
We’ll be looking for places to stay (bed, floor, field etc) and good company during the trip so if anyone is nearby our route and can help out we’d be very delighted and very grateful!
This is our route by country- UK – Holland – Germany – Switzerland – France…
and in more detail….
30 April – Trek begins @ Everton football club
1 May – Derby
3 May – Milton Keynes, 7pm
4 May – Hyde Park, 3pm
7 May – Brighton, 5pm
8 May – Gravesend, 5pm
10 May – Harwich to Rotterdam ferry
11 May – Rotterdam
12 May – Amsterdam
14 May – Utrecht
15 May – Arnhem
17 May – Dusseldorf
18 May – Cologne
21 May – Bielefeld
25 May – Frankfurt
28 May – Heidelberg
30 May – Karlsruhe
1 June – Stuttgart
2 June – Ulm
3 June – Munich
6 June – Lake Constance
7 June – St Gallen
9 June – Winterthur
10 June – Schindellegi
11 June – Lucerne
12 June – Berne
13 June – Lausanne
14 June – Geneva
15 June – Aix les Bains
22 June – Nice
23 June – Monaco
26 June – St Tropez
2 July – Lyon
5 July – Versailles
6 July – Paris
I am really excited about this next adventure, it’ something totally different…. and I might even get my mountain fix when we get to the Alps!
ElliptiGO high mountain pass route to be confirmed….
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