This is the second part of our series following Josh and Sarah. They are a UK based couple on an epic self-supported cycle tour aiming for India. Both Josh and Sarah are using Criterion sleeping bags. With Sarah using a standard length Quantum 450, whilst Josh is using the new Quantum 450 Long.
In this post Sarah answers some questions about their background and adventure during their time in Montenegro. The first instalment can be viewed here (Josh and Sarah Part 1).
Who are Josh and Sarah, for the people who may not be aware?
We’re Sarah and Josh, originally from the UK but currently on an adventure to cycle around the world (in the slowest known time). We both have a passion for nature and spending time outside. With a desire to see the world but conscious of our carbon footprint, we hatched the dream of cycling around the world.
After growing frustrated with road cycling, our desire to get into nature grew, and five years ago, we switched up our riding style. We like to ride predominantly off-road, focusing on nature and the places we explore. Our riding motto is to go slow, take detours, ditch tarmac, and avoid saddle sores.
As our journey takes us around the world, we hope to explore far-flung places with a focus on nature, people and landscapes. We’ve got a hunger for adventure and a desire to see the world. Whilst pedalling and eating our way across the planet, we make films about our adventures for our YouTube channel, Josh and Sarah Ride.
What other adventures have you been on?
When we first met 13 years ago, our passion for travel bonded us, and we spent a few years backpacking around East Asia and Europe.
As we became more environmentally aware, our desire to travel didn’t dampen, so we devised the plan of seeing the world in a human-powered way. We’d both grown up cycling but saw it mainly as a means of getting to the pub or school. When we considered pedalling around the globe, it felt like a plethora of possibilities opened up to us.
We’ve attempted to cycle from the UK to India on several occasions. When Covid struck five years ago, our then-current attempt was foiled, and we found ourselves in the UK for an extended period. Rather than get frustrated, we leaned into finding adventures on our doorstep.
Our exploration took us on micro adventures and a few gruelling challenges. One such challenge was cycling to every national park in the UK in just over a month to raise money for charity. Inspired by all of the beautiful places our journey took us but frustrated at the time constraints we set to challenge ourselves; we decided to switch up our riding style.
Now, we focus on riding off-road trails and taking the scenic route. We like to get distracted by nature and leave ourselves open to detours as we ride. Some of our favourite adventures have been around the Lake District, where we used to live and exploring Scotland on the bike.
Why India and what is your route given there are some potentially dangerous countries on route?
India is a place we’ve wanted to visit for many years, and this isn’t the first time we’ve attempted to get there. We’re drawn to the culture, food, people, music, landscape and want to spend time exploring the vibrancy of the country.
Our route is always flexible and open to tweaks. We often stay with locals or get chatting with people who’ll recommend a certain trail or route for us to take. Countless times on this trip, we’ve taken detours or changed course after recommendations of a scenic route or viewpoint.
With world politics constantly shifting, this is our approach as we reach potentially tricky borders or regions.
Up until Turkey, our route is pretty straightforward. However, from here it becomes a little trickier. Our dream would be to cycle through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, then some of the Stans before cycling into Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. With the way things are at the moment, that plan unfortunately doesn’t seem possible.
Josh has Iranian roots and some family there, and we would love the opportunity to cycle through Iran. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look possible for us at the moment as UK passport holders.
We plan to keep our minds open to potential routes that are safe. We’re open to pedalling wherever our legs can take us, even getting a boat if we have to. But we want to try and avoid flying.
With just the two of you, how do you cope with each other all day, everyday! You can ride apart after a row, but how do you cope if you only have one tent! At least at home, you have separate rooms!
We get asked this pretty often, and it’s not that we never disagree or bicker. We’ve had many adventures over the years and quickly learnt that when there’s an obstacle to overcome, we’re better off tackling it together than apart.
If we disagree on how to solve the issue, squabbling between us will just delay things. So we’ve learnt to try and resolve problems together.
That being said, we naturally get a little annoyed with each other occasionally, usually when one of both of us gets angry. I don’t hold a grudge, so I am very quick to get over anything. Josh, on the other hand, I’ve learnt needs a good cooling off period. So on those occasions, I’m banished to the other end of the tent!
Disclosure
Josh and Sarah bought their Quantum 450 sleeping bags themselves. If you choose to buy a sleeping bag through one of the links on this page, they’ll earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. It helps fund their journey and keep the adventure rolling.
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Criterion Quantum 450 Long Down Sleeping Bag
£360.00 4 Season, 5 Season-10°c860gSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Criterion Quantum 450 Down Sleeping Bag
£350.00 4 Season, 5 Season-10°c800gSelect options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
