Coffee cravings, jumping kangaroos, scary bears and broken records: Jenny Graham’s diary of a round-the-world cyclist

Speeding towards the iconic Brandenburg Gate, having cycled non-stop for 36 hours on the final push of an epic journey around the world, Jenny Graham had only two things on her mind: crossing the finish line and hugging her son Lachlan for the first time in four months.

On October 18, 2018, the cyclist from Inverness was greeted by a crowd of supporters waving Saltires and cheering when she completed her epic journey to become the fastest woman to cycle around the world.

Starting and ending in Berlin, Graham pedalled 18,000 miles across 16 countries and four continents in a record time of 124 days, battling against exhaustion, the elements and terrifying encounters with highway traffic and a few grizzly bears.

Her journey took her through remote wilderness, bustling cities and majestic scenery as she soaked up a whirlwind of sights, countries and cultures with often only her trusty Scottish-made bike, dubbed “Little Pig”, for company.

Five years on, Graham still marvels at what she achieved. “When I reached Berlin, I’d been riding for 36 hours straight because I was desperate to finish,” said Graham, 42. “I couldn’t quite believe it when I turned a corner, went through the Brandenburg Gate and saw my family and friends waiting for me. It didn’t feel real. The fact I’d actually made it back and broke the record took a long time to process.”

In her new book, Coffee First, Then The World, the mum of one recounts the physical and psychological highs and lows of her journey with endearing humour, warmth and stark honesty. Committing the memories of her monumental challenge to paper, including her audio diaries from the time, offered a fresh perspective.

“Writing the book was actually therapeutic. It let me revisit and pull apart all the emotions tied into the ride,” she said. “I was so hard on myself at the time, and that’s probably what got me round at the end of the day, but I did berate myself for being behind schedule. I have more compassion for the Jenny of five years ago now.”

© Supplied by Jenny Graham

Not only did Graham achieve her goal of becoming the fastest woman to cycle across the world (Guinness World Records doesn’t distinguish between supported and unsupported rides), she beat the existing record by 20 days.

She followed the route taken by fellow Scot Mark Beaumont, who set the current record of cycling around the world, fully supported, in 78 days in 2017. It took her through Germany, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Mongolia, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA then back to Europe across Portugal, Spain, France, and the Netherlands before finally returning to Berlin.

While her challenge was about cycling for as long and as fast as she could – often close to 15 hours a day – Graham could still marvel at the changing scenery around her.

With no support crew, she soaked up the culture, customs and hospitality of the different countries as she sought accommodation, food and bike repairs, often relying on the kindness and hospitality of strangers.

The exhilaration of her adventure was often tempered with extreme exhaustion and headaches over the logistics of arranging accommodation and rescheduling flights. To keep her mood up and mind clear, Graham filled her head with podcasts, music and audiobooks. “Some moments in the southern hemisphere were very low because my body was deteriorating with the weather. It was winter, so staying warm and dry was difficult and I wasn’t sleeping well. Australia was hard but the night skies made up for it. I was cycling under these super moons and the Milky Way. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.”

Her close encounters with wildlife were awe-inspiring and terrifying. “The wildlife was incredible but I was frightened of everything!” said Graham. “Seeing my first wild camel sitting by the road in the Gobi desert was amazing and I was spooked by kangaroos because they were massive and would leap into the road. Riding through Alaska and the Yukon was so quiet and vast that wildlife just wandered along the road. I actually rode through a herd of wood bison in the middle of the night.

“I was frightened of the bears, but only saw two fairly close up. One was a cub on the road I belted past while worrying where its mother was and the other was a gigantic bear eating berries by the roadside that I managed to pass with a car between us.”

Yet, she admitted: “The bears were scary but cars were the real danger. My scariest moments was the traffic on the road. People’s mood on the road would affect how safe I felt.”

The thought of her next cup of coffee (hence the book title) and finding a hotel with a hot shower was another motivation. “Coffee stops were my lifeline out there. I’d decide where to sleep that night based on how close I was to coffee the next morning,” she laughed.

Graham often resorted to sleeping outside if she couldn’t find accommodation, bedding down by the roadside, on benches, in bus shelters, tunnels, toilet blocks and even a playground.

Living on her steel Stooshie bike, built by Shand Cycles, became the norm. “There’s a simplicity of only carrying what you need on your bike to survive for days or months at a time,” said Graham. “Everything you take is an absolute necessity.”

She believes her record will stand for some time. “It won’t be down to a lack of women able to do it. It’s really down to current affairs and everything that’s happening with Russia and Ukraine. So much of that route is closed off now and getting into China is so unpredictable.”

Graham’s rapid ride across four continents only intensified her love of endurance adventure biking. She continues to explore Scotland and abroad on two wheels as a presenter for the Global Cycling Network and director at the Adventure Syndicate, a British group that promotes women in cycling. “It’s the dream, really,” she admitted with a smile.

‘Riding for 15 hours a day was when I was at my happiest’

© Supplied by Jenny Graham

While the thought of biking non-stop for up to 15 hours a day, or night, for four months may sound daunting, endurance cycling was already second nature to Jenny Graham.

She started in her 20s and quickly fell in love with the thrill and challenge of adventure cycling and bikepacking, which involves travelling and camping out in the wild with only the kit you can pack on two wheels.

By pushing herself on challenges like The Highland Trail 550, a popular 550-mile bikepacking route across the Highlands, Graham realised her talent for endurance riding.

“I realised that not only was I good at riding for 12-15 hours a day but it was also when I was at my happiest,” she said.

“Doing the world ride unsupported was a no-brainer because it was just an extension of how I was already living.

“I was travelling on my bike, exploring foreign lands on my own and constantly pushing myself to see how much further I could go.”

She recalled: “Riding across Siberia, Mongolia and China blew me away. The landscapes were so pretty and the people were open, friendly and keen to help me. The wildness and vastness of Alaska was just incredible. You think we have this wild, rugged and remote scenery in the Scottish Highlands but Alaska was another level!”

One of her greatest challenges was navigating the constant stream of trucks and lorries powering across the Trans-Siberian Highway in Russia. She often found herself driven off the road in terrifying near-collisions and, at one point, concerned police flagged her down to offer her a cup of tea and support.

“Nobody is expecting to see a cyclist on the Trans-Siberian Highway,” she said. “There were so many dodgy situations. It was scary but I started to cycle at night when it was less busy and I was more visible. That did mess with my body clock but it helped me through.”

It was when her son Lachlan, now 24, went off to college and her employer offered her a sabbatical, that Graham began planning the ultimate test: cycling around the world.

“Before I even set off I had imposter syndrome, I thought I was too ordinary to do something like this,” she admitted. “It was a good lesson about not putting barriers up to things that you don’t think you can do because actually we are often far more capable than we think. It just takes a bit of belief to get there, and I had a great network of cyclists supporting me.”

Coffee First, Then The World is published by Bloomsbury, out Thursday