Eleanor Hulm

A Solo Adventure Cycling from Thailand to the UK

I always love it when I get to chat to someone who is still mid-adventure and that is exactly where I caught Eleanor Hulm, four months into a solo bike journey from Bangkok back to the UK. I caught up with her for this interview while she was calling in Japan and we chatted all about the journey so far.

Eleanor would be the first person to say she isn’t a life long cyclist. Before this trip, her biggest rides were three-day charity rides organised through Club Peloton, an all-women group in the property industry. She showed up to her first training ride thinking she’d be able to do it all on her Brompton and I think that is the kind of attitude that will hold her in good stead for this long distance bike adventure she is on now.

The jump from a three-day supported peloton to a solo multi-continent loaded bike tour is not a small one. The first day out of Bangkok was equal parts hilarious and terrifying. Eleanor had an issue with her pump, had to find somewhere to get air, fell off her bike at a crossroads while everyone waited patiently for her, and eventually found herself cycling out of the city and into the flat straight roads with cars speeding past, laughing at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

The first night was harder though as she realised there was no one to debrief the day with. No friends close by to go for a drink with and that is when the reality of having chosen to be alone, fully alone, for a very long time, really hit Eleanor. The adventure she had dreamt of had indeed begun.

Baptism of fire on the Mae Hong Son Loop

Eleanor is candid about how hard the early climbing was and the Mae Hong Son Loop in northern Thailand was her first real taste of loaded bike climbing, and it nearly broke her. She had to get off and push so many times doubts definitely crept in as to whether she’d be able to complete the loop, yet alone make it back to the UK.

She got lost on a gravel route no other cyclist appeared to have done, had to change out of her cycling shoes because the gradient was so steep she was sliding backwards, never made it to the town she was planning to sleep in, and ended up wild camping next to a beehive with nothing but the remaining cashews in her bag for dinner. But despite all of that, she still describes it as being one of her favourite memories of hte trip so far, adn the views in the morning were certainly well earnt!

By the time Eleanor got to Vietnam and started riding toward Sa Pa and through Ha Giang, the climbs that would have defeated her in Thailand were starting to feel like a fun challenge. She began noticing her progression and no longer needed to get off and push once.

Fast Friendships and Learning to Ask

Eleanor met Pako, a bikepacker from Chengdu in a hostel in Cao Bang, Vietnam. They spotted each other’s bikes and ended up sharing a beer that first evening and a fast friendship transpired.d

What Eleanor took from Pako was that she wasn’t afraid to ask for help. Not afraid to knock on a door and ask if two travelling cyclists could stay the night for example. Eleanor started doing it too. This is a lesson that many other guests I’ve interviewed have reflected on as being a key learning from taking a big adventure like this. It is ok to show our vulnerabilities to others, and to ask for help.

The Mind Prison

\Eleanor uses the phrase mind prison to describe what it feels like to spend your cognitive energy on things related to a job, the mental load of a nine to five that occupies your head whether you want it to or not. She has reflected that being on this adventure has felt like she is in a mind palace instead. Her thoughts are her own and there is so much time to think. It’s a refreshing change which she realises she definitely needed, and in a way was the catalyst to take the journey in the first place.

Eleanor was not actually expecting this aspect to be a significant part of the trip. She’d actually conceived she’d be be doing yoga in the mornings and seeing a lot of sights. But she hasn’t done any yoga and while she has certainly seen a lot of sights, what surprised her is how much of the journey happens inside her own head, and how much she has grown to value that space.

Each Day is a New Present

Eleanor describes how waking up every morning and looking at her route is like unwrapping a new present. She doesn’t know what is about to unfold but does know it is going to be something worth riding to.

We talked about moments of awe and what it was like to reach milestones such as Mount Fuji. She was cycling along the coast, looking at the sea, looking ahead, looking at the sea, and had not turned right in a while. Then she finally looked to her right, and Mount Fuji was right there. Seeing it literally made her gasp out loud and she describes it as being one of the most incredible vistas she had ever seen in her life.

She is loving her time in Japan, despite developing what she describes as an insane sugar addiction thanks to the Japanese convenience stores and bakeries , something that she is not sorry about it at all.

What Has Changed

Four months in, I asked Eleanor to reflect on who she was the day she pushed that heavy bike out of the Bangkok hotel doors versus who she is now. She finds it hard to put a precise finger on what has exactly. But she has confidence and a greater belief in what her body is capable of doing. She also has less fear of certain things and much more confidence in what she can achieve.

She’s also been convinced to sign up for the Transpyrenees race at the end of September, which Eleanor is hoping to cycle to from Europe after coming through the Stans, Georgia and Turkey. How will she train for an ultra? Well I think riding across a continent should just about do it!

The gift she has given herself on this trip is exactly the kind that keeps paying out for years afterwards. And there are still an enormous number of days left to unwrap. I hope to be able to catch up with Eleanor in a few months time when this adventure is all wrapped up and chat to her about the whole experience. In the meantime you can follow her adventure unfold via her instagram account – @elbybike

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