Wildlife biologist by day and a gravel rider and bikepacker by day and night, Saoirse got into bicycle commuting in her late 20s when time-intensive research made her desperate for an excuse to spend time outside. Her journey to bikepacking, however, was curious. Once, she couldn’t afford flight tickets to Amsterdam for a holiday so she spontaneusly decided to try cycling there with a friend. They bought highly unsuitable, several-decades-old beater bikes and successfully arrived at their destination days later. This gave Saoirse a taste of long-distance adventure, which “spiralled very quickly”.
Soon, she was covering rides and challenges such as Whitehaven to Sunderland Coast to Coast or North Coast 500, which eventually led her to the Three Peaks national UK challenge – of which she is now the Guinness World Record holder alongside two other friends in the women’s team category.
Fast forward to the present day, and Saoirse can be found exploring everywhere from the United Kingdom and Ireland to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Chile and Columbia.
Bikepacking Gone Pottie
You can now enjoy the first two episodes of the new series. Episode #1 will take you from the edge of the Antarctic to the world’s southernmost city of Ushuaia in Argentina. The journey took Saoirse and her 5-member entourage of friends across, among other places, the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, known for its rugged landscapes and abundance of wildlife. They braved challenges such as 50 kph headwinds and searching for DIY lodgings wherever they could and were rewarded with some stunning views and coastal sceneries – and reaching the ‘El Fin del Mundo’, the End of the World, of course.
Episode #2 will shine a spotlight on a phenomenon called Ciclovía. The history of Colombian Ciclovías goes as far back as 1976 when the mayor of Bogotá made it an official programme promoted by the City government. Since then, each Sunday and public holiday, certain main streets of Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín are temporarily blocked off to cars for several hours, allowing pedestrians, runners, skaters, dancers, yogis, and bicyclists to take over. And it was in lively Medellín where Saoirse’s bikepacking crew got to experience the unique and convivial atmosphere of the Ciclovía.
New bite-sized episodes will be released and added periodically. When watching, proceed with caution – the bikepacking bug can be highly contagious and impossible to shake!
