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Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
Summer
2015
Cycling around the world
Johan du Plessis
(1999-2004) decided to take an early
career break and went on an extraordinary adventure in aid
of charity. He writes here of cycling over 14,500 miles across
Europe, Central Asia, China, Japan and the US
The Turpan Depression in Western China (elevation -154m)
Working in South Korea as an
engineering project manager for BP, I
was on a great career trajectory which
I could easily have followed for the
next 30 years.
I’d been given great opportunities
by a company that enabled me to
work around the world. I wasn’t lost,
so didn’t need to find myself, but I did
want a change of direction. Would a
new career be enough of a challenge?
Before I launched myself into
something new, the opportunity for
an adventure beckoned. I’d read about
these “big journeys” and realised it
didn’t have to be about someone else
– it could be about me. It was a mad
risk, but if I didn’t try it I’d never know
whether or not I could have succeeded.
So what’s the biggest trip I could
think of? Something bike-related made
sense. Years of rugby and hockey at
MTS had taken their toll on my knees,
and shortly after arriving at university,
the surgeons told me I was no longer
allowed to do running, so I took up
rowing. I was then introduced to
cycling as a means of getting to the
River Avon for 6am rowing sessions.
But I’d become increasingly hooked
– cycling enables you to experience
the world in slow motion as opposed
to shooting past in a car. You also feel
the satisfaction of covering far more
ground than if you were walking.
I studied Google Maps to hatch a
plan. How long would it take me to
cycle (on a direct route) around the
world, across the great land masses of
the northern hemisphere?
To share the experience I texted my
friend Will Frazer, whom I’ve known
since we were undergraduates at
Bristol University together. I explained
that I needed a companion – what did
he think? He immediately replied with:
“Oh, wow – yeah, OK.”
Seeing the trip as a perfect
opportunity to raise awareness for a
cause, we launched ridingforrhinos.
org. I’d seen rhinos in the wild but it
was the emotional experience I’d had
viewing Brent Stirton’s photo story
(at the Natural History Museum in
London), about the animals being
poached for their horns, which had
made this magnificent creature’s
plight hit home.
Last April, five months after I’d
contacted Will, we left Trafalgar
Square in torrential rain. I couldn’t
let myself think about what I was
taking on. The trip seemed totally
overwhelming and impossible, so I had
to break it down into small steps, such
as making it over to the Continent.