Tough Girl Podcast Katie-Jane L’herpeniere - Completing the 1911 version of the Tour de France (5,500km in 23 days) & the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan.
We first spoken with Katie in March 2018, where she shared more about her transition from a model to adventurer, she goes into detail about the challenges she faced and overcame while doing the longest crossing of the Southern Patagonian Ice Cap, and being the first woman to walk the entire length of the wall of China!
Since then Katie has continued to fill her life with many more adventures. Despite her accolades, Katie would still not class her self as the 'typical adventurer type', as she admits she is frightened of everything and is inherently lazy by nature! Her default setting (that she has to constantly override) is to lay on the sofa with a cup of tea, dunking biscuits, watching the likes of Strictly and X Factor on the telly. Getting started is always the hardest bit.
During this podcast we discuss in more detail how the idea came about for completing the 1911 version of the Tour de France as well as the planning, logistics and go into detail about nutrition and having to consume 9,000 calories per day. Katie shares more about her gear, and why she loved being involved in the Silk Road Mountain Race.
Show notes
- Learn more about Katie-Jane
- Living in the French Alps
- Examples of some of her challenges…. Walking the Great Wall of China, cycled Africa, LEJOG, Fast packing the GR5 plus many many more!
- Le Grand Boule - The Big Loop - how the idea came about and being inspired by a 1911 postcard of France
- Making life harder for herself….
- Deciding to do 5,500km tour in 23 days….with no support
- Where do you start with a challenge like this?
- Mental preparation and overcoming the fears of what other people think of you
- Not telling people about the challenge until stage 5
- The first 5 stages?
- Nailing her nutrition and how it changed the whole challenge
- Eating 9,000 per day!!
- Dealing with mouth ulcers
- Sleep deprivation!
- Deciding to follow a 36 hour day - instead of a 24 hour day! (Easy on paper - hard in real life!)
- Recovering from the ride and getting ready for the next challenge
- The Silk Road Mountain Race - what it is and why she wanted to do it!
- Why does she think she finished….
- Dealing with the cold
- The medical kit and why she took everything she took
- Finishing the race in 14 days
- The smallest tent in the world and how it held up - 500 grams
- The biggest highlight from doing the race
- Plans for 2019 and making new decisions
- Going after her Mountain Leader and International Mountain Leader Qualifications
- Heading to Iceland in July for a solo adventure
- What Katie has learnt from going on adventures
- The power of sharing experiences
Social Media
Website: www.katiejaneendurance.com
Instagram: @katiejaneendurance
Facebook: @katiesenduranceadventures