Jason Lewis (born 1967 in Catterick, North Yorkshire) is a self-powered English circumnavigator accredited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe by human power.[1]
He set off with fellow adventurer Stevie Smith from Greenwich, London in July, 1994 to travel round the globe (Expedition 360), and had travelled over 60,000 km (37,000 mi) by July 2007. He finally ended his expedition on the sixth of October 2007 having travelled 74,842 km (46,505 mi).[2][3]
- Lewis and Smith crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to the US in a wooden pedal boat.
- Lewis and Smith split up in Florida, and Lewis roller bladed across North America. Struck by a driver in Pueblo, Colorado, he spent nine months recovering from two broken legs, returning to the trek in May 1996.
- Lewis and Smith crossed from California to Hawaii in their wooden pedal boat, where Smith ended his journey.
- Lewis continued by pedal boat to Australia. He bicycled through Australia.
- Lewis then kayaked from Australia to Singapore.
- He biked from Singapore to the Himalayas.
- He hiked through the Himalayas.
- He pedaloed from Mumbai, India crossing the Indian Ocean to Djibouti.
He then planned to travel through Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, and the Middle East before reaching Europe[4] — however, he encountered a problem in Sudan. The Egyptian authorities would not let him pass through their waters, and when his visa for Sudan ran out he was left with an "impossible decision".[citation needed] He attempted to kayak across Lake Nasser to Abu Simbel but was arrested on suspicion of spying. He was released but the Egyptian authorities forbade him from mountain-biking the 178 mile journey to Aswan. He completed this section illegally by riding partly at night[1].
In July 2007, he reached Syria and then crossed Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Germany, and Belgium before returning to London on 6 October
Lewis expected the journey to last 3.5 years, but due to the many difficulties he faced, as mentioned above, the journey extended to 13 years. Other factors of delay were a bout of depression and a crocodile attack in 2007.[5]
In 2007 Lewis bumped into Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in Sudan while they were undertaking their Long Way Down trip.
References
- ^ AdventureStats by Explorersweb. "Global HPC - Human Powered Circumnavigations". Explorersweb. http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/hpc.shtml.
- ^ "Human power fuels 13-year odyssey". BBC News. 7 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7022644.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ "Briton completes 13-year odyssey". BBC News. 6 October 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7031576.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ "Adventurer reaches highest point". BBC News. 28 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/england/dorset/6094094.stm. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Elliott, John (7 October 2007). "Back home after 13 years Jason Lewis is first man to circle world on muscle power". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2604026.ece. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
Bibliography
Around the world in 13 years, Newscaster: Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN.com International, British, England, 6 Oct 2007, Republished by Rogers Yahoo Video as Around the world in 13 years: Human Powered Voyage, 8 Oct 2007. Click here for Yahoo Video search. Smith, Stevie,Pedalling to Hawaii, Summersdale Publishers Ltd., 2005.
- << Annotation: Summary of story: July 1994 Jason Lewis departed on his voyage. In America he was run over by a car and almost had his leg amputated. He then used a pedal boat to traverse the ocean. Expedition 360 cost more than 400'000$. He took on various jobs and raises the issue of carbon footprint. >>