A Place in the Sun

A marathon is a major challenge for people, but for Londoner Susie Wheeldon, it wasn’t enough. Next up was the Marathon des Sables (six marathons back-to-back, across the Sahara desert), which spurred her to her next feat: cycling around the world (about 12,000 miles), all in the name of promoting solar power.

"When I was running through the Sahara I had a solar-powered charger and I was the only one whose music didn’t run out," Wheeldon, 30, told the UK's Women's Fitness magazine. "It struck me that I could be anywhere in the world and be able to power everything I had with renewable energy, and the idea of doing something adventurous while promoting solar energy came from that."

Wheeldon and two male pals started out on May 15, EU Solar Day, on bikes outfitted with custom-made solar panniers – thin-film photovoltaic solar panels, donated by Nokia – so that they could stay in constant touch on their Web site. The trio is raising money for SolarAid, a UK charity that teaches poor communities in rural Africa to build and sell solar devices.

They’re also hoping – by visiting solar-power projects along the way and documenting them on their site – to highlight ways to combat climate change, and show how harnessing the sun’s rays can be a sustainable solution to global energy needs. And finally, they’re calling on the UN to back solar power at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December.

After leaving London, Wheeldon and pals Jamie Vining and Iain Henderson headed to France and the Solar Euromed project before sailing to the north coast of Africa. From there, they took on Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, highlighting the potential of the Sahara to power Europe, as the Desertec Concept proposes. In August Wheeldon and Vining (Henderson was taking a break) hit Iran, where – thanks to time limits on their visas – they had just 15 days to cross 1,100 miles of the country’s mountainous terrain. As if that weren’t challenge enough, they were cycling during Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, so they struggled to find food and water during sweltering daylight hours. All three cyclists are now in Uzbekistan. Their route takes them through Central Asia and on to China, then to the US. They plan to finish in Miami on Feb. 2, 2010.

Wheeldon told London's Evening Standard: "We were meant to be cycling around 70 miles a day. Unfortunately, my map reading skills may not be all that they could be and we usually end up closer to 100! Haven't quite heard the end of that..."

No doubt her thighs are also screaming – Wheeldon had only started cycling the year before her expedition – but the adrenaline junkie is already plotting her next challenge: Some kind of climbing expedition.

Unless she has another bright idea.

Photo courtesy Ken Lennox.