I believe that anyone who has finished the Hunt 1000 has achieved something truly amazing. When I rode the Hunt in 2022, I wasn’t treating it as a warm-up for anything. We were just coming out of the COVID years and I had a newfound appreciation for the immense, rugged backyard we have here in Australia. I went in expecting a challenge, but the reality of the terrain, the weather and the isolation hit me harder than I expected.

I believe that travel and adventure, if you let them, can make you a better, more evolved version of yourself. I am a bikepacker and I always travel with a bike. But this time, my purpose for being in Kyrgyzstan is greater. I have a relationship I am trying to build. I have a nephew whose upbringing I get to be a part of. I hope this is an evolved version of who I am, but I am still me: the Global Bikepacker.