Ep. 901: First Woman to Circumnavigate the World on Motorcycle - Revisited - Elspeth Beard

Adventure Sports Podcast

Curt Linville

Science, Health & Fitness, Sports, Nature, Fitness, Wilderness

4.6 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Originally aired - July 31, 2017

In 1982, at the age of just twenty-three and halfway through her architecture studies, Elspeth Beard left her family and friends in London and set off on a 35,000-mile solo adventure around the world on her 1974 BMW R60/6.

Reeling from a recent breakup and with only limited savings from her pub job, a tent, a few clothes and some tools, all packed on the back of her bike, she was determined to prove herself. She had ridden bikes since her teens and was well traveled. But nothing could prepare her for what lay ahead.

When she returned to London nearly two and a half years later she was stones lighter and decades wiser. She'd ridden through unforgiving landscapes and countries ravaged by war, witnessed civil uprisings that forced her to fake documents, and fended off sexual attacks, biker gangs and corrupt police convinced she was trafficking drugs. She'd survived life-threatening illnesses, personal loss and brutal accidents that had left permanent scars and a black hole in her memory. And she'd fallen in love with two very different men. In an age before email, the internet, mobile phones, sat-navs and, in some parts of the world, readily available and reliable maps, Elspeth achieved something that would still seem remarkable today.

Told with honesty and wit, this is the extraordinary and moving story of a unique and life-changing adventure.

Her website: www.elspethbeard.com

The Book: www.bookdepository.com/Lone-Rider-Elspeth-Beard/9781782438045

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, folks, welcome to the Adventure Sports podcast. I'm your host, Mason. This episode is when we
0:29.5	talked to Elspeth Beard back in 2017. It's a revisited episode about circumnavigating
0:35.4	the world on motorcycle. Back in 1982, at the age of just 23 years old,
0:40.2	she decided to drop out of architecture school, left her family, left her friends in London,
0:46.2	and set off in a 35,000 mile solo two year, two and a half year adventure around the world on the 1974 BMW.
0:57.5	It was due to a breakup and just, you know, limited savings with her job and just wanting
1:02.8	to do something and to prove herself.
1:05.7	And it ended up absolutely changing her lives, just like it would you or me.
1:10.3	She left not knowing what she'd
1:13.0	face, not knowing anything, really, and saw war zones to the most beautiful scenery, to
1:19.4	civil uprisings, to, you know, unforgiving landscapes even, forcing her to fake documents,
1:30.4	fending off attackers, biker gangs, corruption,
1:36.8	but also wonderful, beautiful things and stories of people coming to her rescue and all sorts of things. And she even fell in love twice on this experience. This is adventure. This is why we do this show. And it's these kinds of
1:46.2	stories on the heels of heartbreak that change our lives. So if you're going through something
1:54.2	that feels like a crossroads or something that feels very, very disruptive to your life,
2:00.3	maybe this is adventure calling.
2:02.6	I don't know.
2:03.4	Don't hurt anyone.
2:04.4	Don't hurt yourself or your future or go at it in a way that's escapism.
2:09.8	But sometimes really good adventures start out that way.
2:14.5	So maybe you should go for it.
2:17.1	I don't know. Find out what adventure you need to do
	...

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