Seek Travel Ride

In 2018, at 24 years of age, Luke Grenfell-Shaw was given a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and told he had months to live. Within weeks, he also lost his brother John in a freak accident. Most people would have pulled the covers up. Luke signed up for a half marathon, hopped on a stationary bike in the hospital ward, and started planning to cycle from Bristol to Beijing.
On 1 January 2020, Luke set off on a tandem bike. Over the next few years he rode 32,000 kilometres through 30 countries, with more than 800 different people taking a turn on the back seat. Some were strangers he met on the road. Some were friends and family. One was a puppy named Tarzan. The ride became the award-winning documentary A Life in Tandem, which you should watch immediately after listening to this episode.
In this episode we talk about:
- What it feels like to be diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at 24
- Why Luke chose a tandem over a solo bike and what that decision changed
- The science behind exercise during chemotherapy and what the research now says
- Dev, the Indian man who turned up in jeans, hadn't ridden in three years, and became Luke's longest-serving stoker
- The brake failure at 50mph on a Kyrgyzstan mountain pass that ended in a medical clinic 
- Tarzan the puppy of Uzbekistan (fate: unknown but probably fine)
- The post-adventure blues, identity after big goals, and what it means to turn 32 when you once didn't expect to see it
- Luke's definition of a 'canliver' and why he prefers it to 'cancer survivor'
- What it means to be a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, and what comes next
Luke Grenfell-Shaw is a professional trail runner representing Great Britain, adventurer, filmmaker, and speaker. His documentary A Life in Tandem is available to stream now.
Links:
- A Life in Tandem documentary 
- Luke's website and Instagram
- Best Foot Forward short film (Luke and Dan in Sichuan): 
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Daragh Cronin is 40 days into his solo cycling expedition from Ireland to Everest Base Camp, and I sent him four questions via Instagram to find out how it's actually going.
He talks about the send-off from Cork that genuinely blew his mind, how it compared to the low-key departure for his West Africa ride, and why the first two weeks on the bike were so much harder than he expected. He gets into the reality of solo wildcamping for the first time, hitting big milestones across Europe, and a very special stop in Germany to see the man he cycled more than half of Africa with.Daragh's route to Everest Base Camp is also currently under a cloud with the war that's broken out in Iran putting his planned route through Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman into doubt. He doesn't have answers yet. Istanbul is where it gets real.
You can also watch the new Daragh YouTube video  on our Seek Travel Ride channel.
Here's the link to Daragh's Africa episode .
Follow Daragh via his instagram @roaminwithCronin for his latest updates. 
Donate to his fundraiser.
Old Man Mountain
Big thanks to Old Man Mountain for supporting this episode of Seek Travel Ride.

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Ever wanted to take a bike adventure through Scotland? This episode is for you!
Guest Sheelagh Daley shares her experiences cycling Scotland's Highlands and the Hebridean Way. This was a trip she planned specifically to challenge herself to wild camp and tackle off-road routes solo. She had ALL the weather, sunshine, rain and of course wind.
Find out about Scotland's Bothies, what it's like to wild camp solo, taking ferries between the islands on the Hebrides, and why Sheelagh says she could return to Scotland for all her bike adventures and be happy.
Be sure to follow Sheelagh to keep up with her adventures. here are links to her instagram - @sheelagh.daley and also her awesome YouTube channel.  
Links mentioned:
Sheelagh's first STR episode
The Hebridean Way
Pictish Trail on bikepacking.com
Log Drivers Waltz route episode with Jen
Check out Old Man Mountain's new Manzanita Handlebar Cradle 
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉  CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
👉 Zorali 
👉 Helinox 
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Follow us on Social Media!
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This week, listeners Juan Pablo and Paula share a day from their cycling adventure in Mongolia which has to be one of the most remote and rewarding places you can ride a bike on this planet. You can keep up with their adventures via their instagram channel - @juan.pablo.toro
I also opens up about my own bikepacking bucket list, and throws the question out to you: where is the destination you're dreaming of? Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
Also mentioned this episode: A Life in Tandem — the incredible documentary following Luke Grenfell-Shaw, diagnosed with incurable cancer at 24, who set off to cycle 20,000 miles from Bristol to Beijing on a tandem bike. Watch it here. 
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉  CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
👉 Zorali 
👉 Helinox 
👉 Ombraz 
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
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Daragh Cronin booked a flight to Marrakesh before he even owned a bike. He had no cycling background, no camping experience, but he had a goal to ride the length of Africa from Morocco to Cape Town. 
Just over 200 days and 13,500 kilometres later, he arrived. In this episode, Irish adventurer Daragh talks through the mental and physical reality of cycling Africa's west coast: navigating borders, battling food poisoning, riding the notorious iron ore train in Mauritania, the strangers who became lifelong friends, and what it was like to finally arrive at the Cape of Good hope
This episode was recorded when Daragh was days away from his next challenge: cycling from Cork to Everest Base Camp to raise funds for the Children's Unit at Cork University Hospital. Be sure to follow him on instagram - @roaminwithcronin and you can check out his fundraiser here.
Other guests mentioned in this Episode:
Rob MacLennan
Tomas Mac An T-Saoir
Fergal Guihen

Check out Old Man Mountain's new Manzanita Handlebar Cradle 
Support the show
Buy me a coffee!
I’m an affiliate for a few brands I genuinely use and recommend including:
👉  CycPlus– ePumps (enter code STR for 5% off!)
👉 Zorali 
👉 Helinox 
👉 Ombraz 
Follow us on Social Media!
Instagram - @SeekTravelRide
Facebook - Seek Travel Ride
YouTube - @SeekTravelRide
Seek Travel Ride Newsletter
Leave me a voicemail message

Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music