When Mark Beaumont set a new round-the-world cycling record, he managed to get corporate sponsorship to finance his record attempt.
One London cycling courier saw that as an affront, and was determined to set a new world record on a self-financed, shoe-string budget.
That courier is Julian Sayarer, and Life Cycles is the book that tells the story of that ride.
A staggering achievement
Sayarer is mentally and physically extremely tough. At times, after having cycled over 150 miles, in mid-winter, he was in desperate need of sleep.
Understanding that he might struggle to get up after just one or two hours of sleep, to continue riding, he’d lie down on the cold, wet ground, without a sleeping bag, so the cold would wake him!
In places, Sayarer openly admits to being fearful on the way, but you learn through his experiences that, like most our fears, the fears are unfounded.
In places, the book is funny. For example, Sayarer regales the incident where, desperate for food, he had to fight off the advances of a prostitute in the dingy establishment (all that was available for miles and miles!) that he called at, while cycling through a freezing winter’s night.
A difficult book
Sayarer is very obviously a highly intelligent person. He studied political science at uni, before turning his back on all that, to become a bicycle courier.
For all his insights and intelligence, his writing style doesn’t always flow freely. In fact, I might describe it as almost staccato at times, and that does impact on the reader of the book.
Sayarer has a phenomenal talent to tell his story, with a great many smaller tales cleverly woven in, but at times I found reading the book was, while certainly not hard, definitely not easy, either.
Despite this, I do recommend that you read this book. I’m not criticising anyone, but I do feel Sayarer’s record was nearer to what such adventures should be, and I think he has a great outlook on life.
You can get your copy of Life Cycles here, or from any good book store.