Expedition 1000 Update: Dave Completes 10th Leg of the Project

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Over the past few years, one of the more consistent adventures that we have followed has been Dave Cornthwaite’s Expedition 1000 project. The British adventurer came up with the idea of completing 25 independent expeditions, each covering 1000 miles (1609 km) or more, without the use of motorized transport, and he has been pursuing that goal ever since. The individual legs of this journey have seen Dave has skateboarded across Australia, stand-up paddleboard the entire length of the Mississippi River, and swim for 1000 miles down the Missouri River, amongst numerous other challenges. Last week, he reached a major milestone in his quest to complete Expedition 1000 by completing the 10th leg of the project, and while there are still 15 more journeys to go, this is most certainly cause for celebration.

You may recall that Dave and a few friends crossed the Atacama Desert on Whikes, specially designed bikes that can use the wind to help propel them along. Shortly there after, Dave was off to a conference in Germany, while simultaneously running a poll on his website asking us to help pick his next mode of transportation to help get him back home to the U.K. That mode of transportation became a Sprint 26x Trike from a company called ICE, and back in April, Dave set out from the town of Germersheim on this unusual human-powered vehicle.

After 23 days of riding, during which he covered 1106 miles (1780 km), Dave finally reached Falmouth, Cornwall. Along the way, he crossed through four countries, and followed a route that was determined by interaction with followers on social media, as well as simply seeing where the road would take him.

Between the Atacama Desert crossing, and his ride across Europe, Dave was on the road from April 3 to May 22, covering a total of 2115 miles (3403 km) in the process, with just seven days of rest. When he ended his ride on the ICE trike last week, he was home, and ready for a bit of a break. The next leg of Expedition 1000 won’t begin until July, and at this point, even Dave doesn’t know for sure what it will be. But for now, he’ll enjoy some much deserved rest at home, while he plans the next adventure.

Congrats to Dave on not only completing this latest stage of Expedition 1000, but also for reaching the tenth overall leg. That is a huge accomplishment and one that he should be very proud of.

Kraig Becker