Tough Girl Podcast Tegan Phillips - Adventure Cyclist and Cartoonist. Currently preparing for a second attempt at being the fastest woman to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town.
Tegan in her own words:
“Once upon a time… I was studying to be a lawyer.
Then I drew some comics in a competition to win a bicycle, which I rode across Spain, telling the story of my adventure through a comic blog.
This kind of adventure storytelling was too fun to not wildly pursue, so I spent the next few years finding ways to go on more adventures (which included an 11,000km bike trip through Africa with my family, and a 10 Iron Man triathlon around New Zealand), while figuring out how to turn it into a real job.
Today, I work full-time as a cartoonist, speaker and endurance cyclist. I am currently working on a book, setting up a comic merchandise shop in South Africa and training to try again to set a women’s record of the fastest cycle from Cairo to Cape Town in Oct 2022 February 2024.”
The challenge: Cycling Africa: Cairo to Cape Town. 1 continent, 8 countries, 10,800 kilometres, and 58,000 elevation, setting a women's world record that needs to exist.
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Show notes
- Who is Tegan
- Her love of going on big adventures on her bike
- Growing up in South Africa
- Spending a lot of time outside
- Living in Cape Town
- Going on a family cycle adventure
- Cycle touring
- Being inspired by Tom Allen
- Her first solo trip in Spain
- Getting lost, falling off the bike and figuring it out
- Feeling completely free
- Transitioning into the adventure life
- Her love of adventure
- Professional Adventurer?
- Problem solving while on the road
- Cartooning and why it’s more like writing
- Making decisions after university
- Trying to figure out what to do next
- Feeling a lot of pressure
- Reflecting back on her earlier work
- Being encouraged to follow her passions
- Heading off to New Zealand to do 10 Iron Man
- Trying to figure out how to make money
- Adventure Grants
- Altum Consulting
- Training plans and joining a triathlon club
- The planning and preparation
- First blind woman attempting to climb Mt. Everest - Shawn Cheshire
- What does success look like on an adventure?
- Anticipating unexpected challenges
- Where the idea came from to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town
- Finding out that there was no women’s record for the Cairo to Cape Town cycle
- 2019 - applying for the Guinness World Record to find out what the rules were
- Planning and researching for the challenge
- Wanting to start in October 2022
- Needing to go through the civil war in Ethiopia
- Working with a cycling coach for the past few years
- Figuring out the funding and the support team
- Being delayed in Egypt and needing to wait 6 weeks
- Feeling ill and needing medical help
- Having a seizure and ending up in hospital
- Processing everything that’s happened
- Trying to figure out what was wrong
- Having her dream fall apart in front of her eyes
- Getting back to cycling and training
- Hormonal problems?
- Looking after herself and prioritising her mental health
- The therapy of talking
- Plans for 2023
- Heading to France do to an Alt Tour of the Women’s Tour de France
- Staying with Katherine Bertine
- The Women’s Tour - UK
- Tour de France Femmes
- Funding for adventures and making a living
- Working with Komoot
- Turning 30 and how her mindset is changing
- Having less fear and coming-out the other side
- How to connect with Tegan
- Final words of advice
Social Media
Website: teganphillips.com
Instagram: @teganphillipscomics