Im Juni 2018 stand eine junge Schottin mit ihrem Fahrrad am Brandenburger Tor und brach zu einer Reise auf, die schon einige vor ihr unternommen hatten. Jenny Graham war nicht die erste Frau, die die Welt auf dem Rad umfahren wollte. Aber sie wollte die schnellste Frau werden und sie wollte auf ihrer Fahrt ohne fremde Hilfe auskommen. With infectious wit and honesty, Jenny recounts her friendships with strangers and the myriad different cultures she comes across that gave her a new perspective on the world. In 2018, amateur cyclist Jenny Graham left family and friends behind in Scotland to become the fastest woman to cycle around the world. Alone and unsupported, she crossed the finish line at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin four months later, smashing the female record by nearly three weeks.

Graham helpfully bookmarks each day's ride with total time/kilometers on the bike, start/end points and her sleeping venue. Unbelievably, she often camped roadside, sheltering in bus stops, roadway pipes, culverts, or (gross!) in concrete-floored public restrooms. I found myself internally cheering the days she noted motel, hotel or a "warm showers" family for her time off the bike. In the end I found the process somewhat therapeutic. I combined the memories with reflection, looked up the facts and replayed my words from the time to create a fuller picture of what I experienced. It was such a personal story and one that held a lot of emotion, so I struggled to find a writing pattern that worked for more than a couple of weeks at a time.Jenny shares her adventures, tells stories of pushing her body to the limit all while being super excited for her book to be released along with the audio book for you to enjoy. countries, 124 days and 18,000 miles. This is the story of one woman's solo lap of the planet by bike.** I have read many incredible accounts of super-human endurance, especially by bike. And Jenny Graham's is the best I have read. countries, 124 days and 18,000 miles. This is the story of one woman's solo lap of the planet by bike.

I guess I'll start at the end which would be the epilogue, when Jenny writes about how people end their conversations with her on biking by saying "but it's nothing close to what you do." And, her biggest takeaway is that in reality it is what ACTUALLY everyone else does because it's the short journeys, the morning rides and ride with friends that have contributed to the whole that brought her to this amazing accomplishment.

About this book

With the release of Jenny's new book Coffee First, Then The World next month it was the perfect time for a blether to hear all about Jenny's record breaking cycle around the world and the process Jenny went through to write the book. The physical benefits of training are easy to measure, but it’s only in times of resistance that you will see the resilience you have built up mentally to adverse situations.” Not only the logistics and planning required, the fundraising and sponsorship to enable the project to get off the ground, but the mental attitude to force yourself to continue day after day for months on end spinning the pedals. As your body craves sleep, as fatigue and exhaustion drain you mentally as well as physically. In 2018, over the course of 18,000 miles, Scottish cyclist Jenny Graham smashed the round-the-world cycling record by nearly three weeks, finishing in 124 days and 11 hours. But her real achievement was a new relationship with herself and with the world. Alone and unsupported, Jenny left family and friends behind in Scotland to complete her mission: a solo lap of the planet by bike.

I cycle. I've done a few long distance rides. John O'Groats to Lands End, Aberystwyth to Lowestoft coast to coast. But the idea of cycling around the world, solo and unsupported is hard to appreciate. When Jenny Graham decided to attempt to become the fastest woman to circumnavigate the world on a bicycle (with allowances for flights over oceans), she was both excited and nervous. This book that captures her adventures during this expedition was a fun and enjoyable read. This Podcast has been 2 years in the making so it was a pleasure to finally have it confirmed and recorded!There were hours upon hours of Audio diaries from my trip that my Mum and her husband Donald set about transcribing – a laborious job that will probably give my mum nightmares for ever more! This provided an amazing framework to get me started. The relief was immense: no longer was I talking, thinking or worrying about this. I was just actually doing it. I, Jenny Graham, was riding around the actual world!'

So etwas kann befreiend sein, aber es macht es auch schwierig, wieder ins normale Leben einzutauchen. Auch das erzählt Jenny Graham. Für sie ist ihre Reise noch lange nicht vorbei, als sie daheim angekommen ist. Das ist es, was mir an ihrem Buch so gut gefallen hat. Es geht nicht nur ums Radfahren, sondern auch das, was es mit und aus ihr gemacht hat. Wahrscheinlich sehen die meisten nur den Rekord, aber hier erfährt man auch viel über die Person, die auf dem Rad sitzt. Und darüber, dass der Titel des Buchs wirklich Programm ist: ohne Kaffee funktioniert Jenny Graham nur schlecht. Auf dem Papier geht die Rechnung auf: Jenny muss jeden Tag eine bestimmte Menge an Kilometern fahren. Weniger, als sie sonst an manchen Tagen fährt, aber sie ist sich dessen durchaus bewusst, dass es nicht die Kilometer pro Tag sind, sondern die Tatsache, dass sie diese Kilometer jeden Tag fahren muss, um ihr Ziel zu erreichen.To say this book was inspirational gives it so little credit because this book has moved me in so many levels Outside this book outlining Jenny's quest to break the world record, what this book also reaffirms for me is that kindness exists no matter what language. I have always believe in this wholeheartedly and regardless that the world could be so DAMN DREARY, the acts of kindness and hospitality that strangers extended to her just filled my heart with so much joy and gratitude in knowing that there is always hope and light no matter the circumstance or where you are. One doesn’t have to be a cyclist, a fan of the sport or even know anything about a bike to enjoy this book. If the reader wants to get a first hand account of a fantastic accomplishment by one woman with determination, then this is the book for them.