Indonesian Digital News Archive

The Queen of the Kayak, Freya Hoffmeister, is set to resume her epic journey around South America tomorrow as she returns to the water once again in Valparaiso, Chile. The woman who has already circumnavigated around Iceland, New Zealand's South Island and Australia, is hoping to become the first to paddle completely around South America as well.

Freya set out from Buenos Aries, Argentina last September and spent the next eight months covering roughly 8000km (4970 miles) following remote coastlines. First heading south, she was successfully able to paddle through the notoriously tricky waters of Cape Horn, which are well known for their turbulent seas and nasty storms, before turning north. In May she reached Valparaiso and elected to take a break and return home to Hamburg, Germany. There she was able to rest, resupply and take care of the logistics that will see her through the second stage of the journey.

The plan now is to return to the water and cover another 8000km, paddling past Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela before taking another break in Georgetown, Guyana. To reach that point she'll have to kayak through the Panama Canal, dodging heavy shipping freighters along the way. If all goes as planed, she'll complete this second stage by April of next year. Stage 3 will then begin in September of 2013, when she'll finish the circumnavigation and arrive back in where she started in Buenos Aires.

While she's out on the water, Freya posts regular updates to blog that help chart her progress and experienced along the way. You can find that blog by clicking here.

Thanks to ExWeb for the tip!

Last week I told you about Marshall Ulrich and Dave Heckman's attempt to circumnavigate Death Valley on foot in the dead of summer and I wanted to give you an update on their progress. As of last night, Marshall and Dave have finished their trek, covering more than 400 miles (643km) through one of the harshest environments on the planet.

There aren't a lot of details on the final push just yet, and Marshall's blog hasn't been updated, but the announcement came via Facebook. All told it took the boys 16 days to complete the trip, while enduring temperatures in excess of 100ºF/38ºC every day.

I'm sure we'll hear more specifics about the journey once Marshall and Dave have time to relax and catch-up. But for now, here is a sneak peek at video they shot along the way. It'll give you an idea of what it was like out in the desert for two and a half weeks.

Congrats on completing the trek!

There is no doubt that Death Valley is a place of extremes. It is the hottest, lowest and driest place in North America and during the months of July and August temperatures often exceed 125ºF/51ºC. It is the kind of place that will test the spirit of those that visit it and any living thing that survives there must be a hardy creature indeed.

If anyone knows the challenges that come along with Death Valley it is ultra-runner Marshall Ulrich. The endurance legend has run the Badwater Ultramarathon 18 times and has crossed DV 24. That's an awful lot of time spent in such a harsh and unforgiving landscape. Apparently Marshall enjoys being in that environment however as last week he and Dave Heckman set off to become the first people to circumnavigate the entirety of Death Valley on foot and in the month of July.

Marshall and Dave started their trek last Sunday, July 22nd and have made excellent progress ever since. The entire trip will cover approximately 450 miles (724km) and range from the low of the desert floor to the highs of the nearby mountain peaks, extending as much as 5000 feet (1524 meters) in altitude. The two men are traveling completely self supported as strategically placed supply caches are keeping them resupplied with food and water along the way. They're also carrying 3D video cameras to document their trek as well as capture the beauty of Death Valley National Park.

Updates are coming semi-regularly to Marshall's website (click here!) and you can follow progress on their SPOT page. Judging from that page it appears that they'll be finishing up the trek sometime this week.

Seems like a fantastic adventure and I love their approach. Marshall and Dave are essentially going as light as possible and using their supply caches to provided them with food and water at the appropriate times. I also like that they're doing this expedition to draw attention to a beautiful place that more people should be aware of. I personally can't wait to see some of the video footage that they are shooting.

Big thanks to Ray for sharing this great adventure with me.

While we're on the topic of long distance cycling events today, remember back in February when I told you about the World Cycling Race? That event featured nine riders who set out from London on a race around the world that would cover a minimum of 18,000 miles (28,968km) and would hopefully return to them to the U.K. in time for the start of the Olympic Games. Due to attrition, five of the riders withdrew from the event while the others have continued on, with one of those riders already finishing his circumnavigation, arriving home in record time.

Last week, British rider Mike Hall completed the race by finishing his round-the-world ride in just 91 days, 18 hours. In doing so, he shaved nearly 15 full days off the previous record, which as 106 days, 10 hours and was set by Alan Bate back in 2010. Hall's route took him across 20 countries on four continents and he went the entire distance completely unsupported, carrying just 35 pounds of gear along the way.

In order to finish this ride in such a relatively short time Mike had to average more than 200 miles per day, every day, for three months. That's an incredible pace for any rider to maintain, especially taking into consideration the varying road conditions, unpredictable weather and unexpected mishaps that can occur along the way.

The three remaining riders are continuing their push towards the finish line with Richard Dunnett currently in Turkey, Simon Hutchinson in New Mexico and Sean Conway in India. A two-person team consisting of Kristina Stoney and Nic Arney are still riding as well, and the pair are currently in Italy.

The rules of the race allow the riders to travel either east to west or west to east o their route, which helps to explain why the riders are in such varying locations. They now have just 44 days to reach London before the start of the games, and barring any unforeseen problems, it appears that they should all make it.

Back in January I posted a story about Andy Campbell, an inspiring young man from the U.K. who had lost the use of his legs following a climbing accident. At the time, Andy was sharing the details of a new project he was planning that he called the Pushing The Limits expedition during which he plans to circumnavigate the globe under his own power and largely in a wheelchair. That journey begins today.

All told, Andy's expedition will cover roughly 48,280km (30,000 miles), starting in London and traveling east across Europe and Asia. From there, he intends to hop across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska and then continue heading south to the very tip of Chile. Along the way he hopes to raise £1 million for the Chutkara Initiative, a foundation that Campbell started to provide outdoor gear for the physically challenged.

According to his website, Andy will begin his journey by traveling across Europe to the Black Sea. Along the way he'll use a wheelchair, handcycle, kayak and paraglider. But like any good traveler, he's in no hurry and he plans to stop along the way to take in the sights. In fact, he's even asking visitors to his website to submit suggestions of where to stop along the way. His live tracking system will also allow us to follow his progress and know where he is located at any given time.

Andy and his support team estimate that it will take him approximately two years to finish the entire expedition.

British adventurer Sarah Outen has run into a bit of trouble on her London2London Expedition. As you might recall, Sarah is attempting to circumnavigate the globe completely under her own power and has already paddled across the English Channel and ridden her bike across Europe and Asia as well. A few weeks back she started the next phase of her journey, a solo row across the North Pacific. But a tropical storm named Rosie has hit that area and now the Japanese Coast Guard is en route to render some aid.

The storm actually hit Sarah yesterday, but not without advanced warning. She and her weather team had been tracking it for a week, and Outen did her best to prepare her little boat, Gulliver, for the impact. Still, Rosie packed a punch, bringing winds in excess of 55 knots (63 miles/101km) per hour. As a result, the rowboat rolled more than once and has sustained some damage, although just how much has yet to be determined.

After a very rough day, Sarah turned on her emergency beacon and a Coast Guard aircraft flew over her position to assess the situation. She is safe and in good health, but will need to be picked up and brought back to shore so that Gulliver can be repaired. A ship is expected to rendezvous with her sometime tomorrow.

This set back will obviously cost time and money and Sarah was hoping to cross the Pacific in the height of summer. Whether or not that can still happen will depend on how long it takes to repair the boat. Hopefully this will be a brief delay at most and she'll back on the water soon. For now, it's good to know that she is safe and sound.

I haven't posted an update on Jesper Olson and his World Run II expedition since January, which was when he was starting the North American leg of the journey. Now he's nearing the end of that leg and has passed a major milestone along the way.

For those who aren't familiar with Jesper's epic undertaking, back in 2005 he completed the first fully documented run around the world, which for most of us would be enough of a challenge for a single lifetime. But in 2008 he decided to hit the road once again, this time running north to south and back again. He dubbed this second challenge the World Run II and starting from the northernmost point in Finland Jesper started running south. The route took him all the way across Europe, through the Middle East and down down Africa, before reaching the tip of that continent. From there he hopped a flight across the Atlantic and resumed running again, this time heading north through South America and eventually North America as well.

Currently Jesper is running through Maine and quickly approaching the U.S.-Canadian border, where he'll soon cross over and start the final leg of his journey, which will eventually end on Prince Edward Island. He still has a few more weeks of running before he reaches that point, but he is most definitely closing in on the finish line at long last.

A few days ago Jesper crossed a major milestone on World Run II. On May 15 he crossed passed the 35,000km (21,748 mile) mark. Thats an impressive distance to have run and eclipses World Run I by a considerable margin. On his original run around the world, Olson managed to cover 26232km (16,300 miles), but he passed that mark a long time ago and has passed into uncharted territory.

Recently Jesper lost part of his support crew so now he's also being forced to run while carrying a backpack. That added weight has changed his approach some, but he continues moving forward at a surprising pace. On the day that he crossed the 35,000km mark he covered 51km (31 miles), which is very impressive considering he's been running long distance nearly every day for four years.

As always, thanks to Darrell for keeping me updated wit Jesper's progress. It is such an amazing accomplishment that he is closing in on, although it sure makes my nightly five mile runs seem pretty insignificant.