Follow Friday: Al Humphreys

Al is the reason I started doing these trips and has been a constant support throughout. One of my best mates Tom Hopgood met Al in a campsite in South America chatted to him for a bit and didn’t see him again and yet when Tom came back it was this that we talked about for an entire night in the pub in North London. If a scrawny Yorkshireman could cycle round the world then Tom and I could do London to Cape Town easy. We’d climb a few mountains on the way to spice it up too. That’s how the idea for my first trip came about. Tom had to pull out because him Mum and girlfriend told him to (he says it was because of work but we all know Tom!). So I set off and learnt the most valuable lesson I’ve ever learnt. I can make do. It doesn’t sound too special but knowing that pretty much whatever happens I can deal with it makes living from day to day on a bike pretty easy. I e-mailed Al a couple of times and he gave me two bits of advice that I’ve lived by on the road:

1) The hardest part of any trip is getting out your front door.

2) You can only quit after you’ve had a good nights sleep, a big breakfast, the road is flat and the sun is out. And only if you’ve got something better to go back and do.

Al cycled from Yorkshire to Cape Town, sailed in a yacht race across to Rio, cycled from South America to Alaska (including having to Kayak down a river through a forest fire) cycled through Siberia in winter, down the length of Japan and home via the Stans. It took him four years and he’s written two great books about it: here and here. He’s also written a table top book on Ten Lessons from the Road.

Since the round the world bike trip he’s ran the Marathon Des Sables, he’s rowed the Channel with Major Phil Packer, walked across India, walked a lap of the M25 (my favourite of all his adventures!), hiked and packcrafted across Scotland and is planning to be part of the first team to walk from the Southern Ocean to the South Pole and back again.

Below are three videos talking about his trips:

1) The A to Z of Adventure. This was taken from the first Night of Adventure where each speaker has 20slides and only allowed 20seconds per slide!

2) This is Al giving a talk at the amazing Do Lectures:

3) This is the 90second introduction to his motivational speak:

On top of all the expeditions he does public, corporate and motivational speaking events and has organised two Nights of Adventure.

His website here is a treasure chest of information-follow him here on twitter.

1. Colin Kleinkopf says:
   2010-06-12 03:09:57
   Hello can I reuse for the first image at the top of the page as I want to use it on my own private site if that's okay?
2. Dianna Loyd Baldwin says:
   2010-06-11 12:40:03
   Great! Just what I was looking for! :)