Tough Girl Podcast Dr. Kate Leeming - cycling the entire Namibian coastline, a 1621km sand cycling expedition.
Kate has cycled a distance greater than twice around the world at the Equator. On August 16th 2010 she became the first person to cycle an unbroken line from Africa’s most westerly to its most easterly points; from Pointe des Almadies, Senegal to Cape Hafun, Puntland, Somalia.
Cycling 22,040 km over ten months, Kate’s Breaking the Cycle in Africa Expedition was not only a physical quest but an odyssey to highlight the development needs and activities of war-torn and poverty-stricken nations.
Cycling through twenty countries, Kate aimed to find out what is being done to give a ‘leg up’ rather than a ‘hand out’ – to shine a positive light on the issues, cultures and geography of Africa.
Kate has two earlier world firsts under her belt – the Trans-Siberian Cycle Expedition (1993) when she became the first woman to cycle across the new Russia unsupported (aiding the children of Chernobyl), and the 25,000km Great Australian Cycle Expedition (2004/05) which included the first bicycle crossing of the Canning Stock Route by a woman.
In June 2019, Kate completed another original expedition when she became the first person to cycle the entire Namibian coastline, a 1621km sand cycling expedition from the mouth of the Kunene River on the Angolan border to the Orange River mouth on the South African border.
Kate’s latest challenge, Breaking the Cycle South Pole, will result in the first bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the South Pole (2020).
The Breaking the Cycle education programme aims to help prepare our future leaders to make informed decisions to create a better world. Students across the globe can follow her preparatory activities and Antarctic expedition and partake in the Breaking the Cycle Education learning modules and lessons with the end goals of creating their own projects.
Show notes
- A brief introduction to Kate and some of her previous challenges
- Developing new bike technology
- Setting up an education program
- Doing too many expeditions in 2018
- 2019 expeditions down the Namibian coastline
- The current 2020 expedition - The Andes, the Altiplano & the Atacama (South America).
- Being in Cusco ready to start the next expedition
- 2017 spending time in Canada
- Experiencing the cold
- Trying to fit everything in
- The planning for the expeditions
- Paying for expeditions
- How the education piece was developed
- When the logistics of the trip get really complicated
- Training and maintaining fitness
- Dealing with stress and mental health
- Plans for 2020
- Getting an Honorary Doctorate Degree
- Final words of advice
Social Media
Visit - www.BreakingtheCycle.education and sign up to the newsletter!
Twitter: @Leeming_Kate