Tough Girl Podcast Sahir Permall – Cycling 2,800 miles Solo from Glasgow to Istanbul & Empowering Women Through Biking
Sahir Permall is an adventurer, writer, and senior leader in the third sector who is passionate about getting more women on bikes. As the head of a Glasgow-based cycling charity, she is dedicated to making cycling more accessible and empowering women to experience the freedom of two wheels.
In 2024, Sahir was named one of Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling after completing an epic solo ride from Glasgow to Istanbul, covering over 2,800 miles across 10 countries.
In this episode of the Tough Girl Podcast, Sahir shares the story behind her journey—what inspired her to take on this incredible challenge, how she navigated different landscapes and cultures, and the lessons she learned along the way. She also talks about the power of adventure, the importance of setting a start date, and how she is planning the next stages of her journey along the Silk Road in 2025.
Tune in to hear how Sahir transformed a dream into action and how she’s using her experience to inspire other women to push their own boundaries.
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Show notes
- Who is Sahir?
- Working for Women on Wheels
- Her childhood and growing up
- Growing up in a Pakistani household
- Learning about her culture
- Her first exposure to the outdoors
- Learning about the Duke of Edinburgh Award
- Being supported and encouraged by her mum
- Learning how to navigate and spend time in the outdoors
- Learning how to ride a bike
- Using a bike at university
- Being more into hiking in her early 20s
- How cycling came about
- Being inspired by Dervla Murphy
- Book: Full Tilt - Ireland to India on a bike
- Deciding to go on a cycle adventure
- Wanting to cycle across a continent
- Cycling from Glasgow to Istanbul
- Wanting to find a meaningful end point
- Figuring out her different identities, Pakistani, British and Scottish
- Talking about the challenge with friends
- Moving from radical through to radical action
- Wanting to be someone who does things and not just talks about them
- Winning a grant from the Adventure Queens
- Alastair Humphrey’s Newsletter
- Planning and preparation for the trip
- Preferring to have a short time to plan
- Wanting to start on the 4th April 2024
- Not needing everything to be perfect before starting
- Getting fit whilst out on the adventure
- Plotting the route
- Planning how to navigate with a Garmin
- You need to be less prepared than you think
- Why the key thing is getting going
- Starting with basic equipment and not buying new gear
- Sharing the journey on line to help inspire other women to go and do these challenges
- Starting the journey at 36, with 2 children, who isn’t particularly fit or going to the gym on a regular basis
- Spending time on reflecting on the journey
- Taking 6 weeks to fully settle into the nomadic mindset and 6 weeks to settle back into her normal everyday life
- Studying for her MBA exam with The Open University
- Thinking in a different way while being on the road
- The challenges of writing her blog on a regular basis
- Magical moments on the road and feeling grateful for being on the journey
- Gratitude, peace and joy
- Feeling more alive
- Moments of connection with people
- Hosts from Warmshowers
- The route through 10 countries
- Making it a very personal route e.g. going through all the places in the UK, that she had lived in
- EuroVelo routes
- Feeling ready to stop and have a break in Istanbul
- Trying to figure out what was going to be next
- Women on Wheels
- Why it’s more than just cycling
- Part 2 of 3 will happen in 2025
- Part 3 of 3 will take place in 2026
- Why it will be much more challenging this time with the mountains and the terrain
- Moving to gravel tyres
- Wanting to visit the old silk road cities
- Starting in the middle of July 2025
- Flying to the start point
- How to follow along with sahib and join in with the journey
- Words of advice to get you out their doing the things you want to do
- The power of setting a start date
Social Media
Website sasaonthemove.com
Instagram @sasaonthe_move