Six Continents Quest Bicycle Expedition and Program

SIX CONTINENTS QUEST BICYCLE EXPEDITION AND PROGRAM: BICYCLING CANADA’S NORTHERN TERRITORIES

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.

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.