On October 5, 2003 Steve Williams became the first
person to have bicycled all six inhabited continents from top to
bottom or side to side. This final stage of his around the world
tour was a 2,458-mile solo journey from Whitehorse, in the Yukon
Territory, through the heart of the Canadian and American Rockies
to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The ride completed the North American
leg of Williams’ The Six Continents Quest Bicycle Expedition.
The route passed through homelands of indigenous people as well
as pristine habitat for Caribou, Mountain Goats and… Grizzly
Bears, reminding Steve that he was not at the top of the food chain.
When Steve rode back into Jackson Hole in October he completed a
goal that began in the same spot 23 years previous when he left
on the Too Tyred Tour–a six year bicycle expedition.
In the Spring of 2004, beginning with the National
Geographic Quest for Adventure Series, audiences will be treated
to a slide illustrated program that weaves a tale of Steve Williams’
half a lifetime of bicycle adventure and virtually takes them with
him from one end of the planet to the other.
In 2002 adventure cyclist Steve Williams pedaled through
Canada down the famous Dempster Highway from inside the Arctic Circle
through the Northwest and Yukon Territories completing the first
stage of the final continent in his around the world bicycle adventure.
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Bicycle travel
always requires flexibility, but this expedition was an exercise
in adaptability. Words like “sharp and flinty” and “clay-like
mud” took on profound meaning for Steve as he alternately
surfed and plowed his way down this road built atop the frozen arctic
tundra. Rattling pots and pans to alert the bears and sleeping with
all his clothes on in a down bag to avert the cold were all part
of the adventure.
Bicycling the famous Dempster Highway from inside
the Arctic Circle through Canada's Northwest and Yukon Territories
became an exercise in adaptability. Words like "sharp and flinty"
and "clay-like mud" took on profound meaning for Steve
as he alternately surfed and plowed his way down this road built
atop the frozen arctic tundra. Rattling pots and pans to alert the
bears and sleeping with all his clothes on in a down bag to avert
the cold were all part of the adventure. But it is Steve's stories
of the open and warmhearted people he meets that bring this fascinating,
beautiful region to life.
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