Elspeth Beard in Surrey, England - ADV Cannonball News - Adventure Motorcycle Talk with Taylor and Aaron

Taylor travels to Surrey, England to interview Elspeth Beard at her home. Elspeth Beard is an architect and motorcyclist, noted for being the first Englishwoman to ride a motorcycle around the world. She later redesigned the historic Munstead Tower in Godalming, winning the 1994 Royal Institute of British Architects award for South East England. She now owns an architectural firm based in a converted stable in Godalming. She is a friend and an inspiration to us both. 

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Where to buy Elspeth Beard's Books HERE

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Transcript

Welcome to the ADV Cannonball podcast where we discuss all things on two wheels, the adventure bike cannonball, and other motorcycle-related nonsense. Season two episode 10. Welcome to adventure cannonball podcast. Aaron Pufal, thanks for joining me. Hey, man.

Thanks for having me. This is great. Yeah. Absolutely. This is so much fun.

I can't wait to do this every week. This is fantastic. Let me and they ask you where you're sitting. I'm in Seattle. I'm in Seattle, Washington, and I got a cold beer in front of me.

I got me a Tropic Force Hazy IPA. Oh, yeah. I'm a little bit I'm a little bit sad that I don't have one of those. I'm going to have to sort that out. They actually have liquor stores where you're from, so you can hop on your motorcycle and rip down to the liquor store anytime.

That's a great idea. A great thanks for the tip. You know, actually, where we moved to in, in this part of Sweden, just outside of Stockholm, I can actually it's cool because there's a city center. It's truly, like, a three minute walk from me, so that's even better. And, Sistem Balague, it's, Sistem Balague, it's like the I mean, it's the system, and it's a the state owns and controls the alcohol monopoly for everything over 3.5%.

So you can buy 3.5% in the grocery store, but that is it. Anything else, you buy from ten to seven, Monday through Friday, Saturdays from ten to three. And on Sundays, if you didn't buy it earlier in the week, you're screwed. What are you, what are you partaking in today? It's the I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a little Nice.

Nice. Red or white? I'm gonna go with the white flavor tonight. White flavor. Miss, can I have the white flavor?

Can I have the white flavor, please? Speaking of state controlled alcohol, still to this day, if I get on my motorcycle or my phone and I type anything with the letter v in it, it ins it is convinced I'm trying to go to the Vindelakken or whatever it is from our trip in Norway, where every single day we would have to find the closest liquor store. And, my phone is still convinced that there's a v involved. You must be looking for for alcohol. Must be looking for the must be looking for the liquor store.

I remember when we were we were we're like, okay. We were talking to people. I I knew that the hours would be the same as in Sweden, and I was like, okay. We gotta we gotta get there before we get to the hotel. We gotta buy something to put in these panniers.

And because of the the temperature out, we're like, it's great. You put them on the outside of the pannier or the, or the or the, Musca Moto bags, and by the time we get there, they'll be cold. So Yeah. We went well. I remember stopping it.

I remember asking that guy in the parking lot, and I was like, hey. I was like and he only spoke Norwegian. So I spoke to him in Swedish, and, yeah, they're they're similar. It's I don't know. It's there's I don't know.

It's Italian and Spanish, I guess. But I, so I did my best, and I got it. And he's like, oh, and then he pulled out. He was super excited to help us get to that story. He's like, oh, it's right over here.

And he pulled out and gave me he's like, we just typed it in for you. He was super helpful. I was like, that's our guy. Yeah. That's awesome.

Alright. Look. We got we got we got some things to cover here tonight, so let's get to it. Okay. Before Before we get into it, I just wanna let you know that I did some research this week as I as I often do, and I did a little bit of research.

Do you know where we are the number two podcast this week? I don't know, but I'm always excited to hear that we've broken into a a new market, so so lay it on me. It is the Queensland, Australia area for the adventure motorcycle podcast segment of the market. Oh, wow. I don't know how we got there, baby, but we're there.

This is our plan for world domination, and it's going well. That's it. We're going to take it over. Right. We're on the path to number two.

And we're going to switch abruptly from motorcycle talk and cannonball and interviewing important people. We're going to talk about flat Earth and space invaders any day now. We're gonna really in with fun talk, and we're gonna switch it with some world domination stuff. You know, the other day, my kid was asking me I say the other day. This was years and years ago.

We were talking about he made a joke one time at school, and he said that Earth was like a like a dice, like a die, like a cube. And then they were like, well, why is it round? He's like, duh. Erosion. Right.

That's really funny, actually. So, actually, I can almost get behind that. Yeah. It's like it's, you know, wind, rain, you know, stuff rubs off the edges. It just gets smooth.

Duh. Alright. Hey. Something else I was online looking at, be besides the Queens and Australia thing, was a, was a review of the Royal Enfield Himalayan four fifty. It was a six month review.

The conclusions, it was episode three, and it was done by Big Rock Moto. He is he is really thorough. He he goes through a lot of the details and great, he just he hits all the marks, and so he got to live with this bike for six months to ride it. I'm I'm interested in in reading reviews and hearing reviews about those bikes because it also just so happens to be the bike that we will be riding through the Himalayas in September. So anyway, if anyone's interested in that, we're going to, we're going to put that link in the show notes.

So if you're interested in the Royal Enfield Himalayan four fifty, it's the same one that Ishi Boots was, that rode and did the the prototype with, also in the Himalaya. So it's the bike designed for that particular region, does well on high altitude, and has a big flywheel to get you up the hills, and you can bump around the second gear all day in those. So anyway, a good ins a good, comparison. He also makes great comparison between the KLR, six fifty and the Doctor six fifty, which I used to to own. I know you you you used to have the KR six fifty.

Anyway, he makes a great comparison between those in terms of value. And believe it or not, of all those bikes, this one is still cheaper than the other. So it's, it's worth looking at. And over to you. You got anything bubbly to talk about?

Yeah. We have been sending out to competitors for the Cannonball the information for using apps to join our tracking page on Spotwala. And, unfortunately, anyone who's using an Android who doesn't have a GPS, satellite tracking device like a Garmin inReach Mini, Bubbler was that app, and that has reached end of life. So until somebody, someone brave out there, makes a new app for Android, you can no longer use the Bubbler app. Sorry.

You can no longer download the Bubbler app for Android. It is no longer being updated, so that's a little sad. And, yeah. So get an iPhone or get a, a tracking device, like the Garmin inReach to satisfy that requirement for the 2025 Cannonball. Okay.

Very cool. So I see we've got something here about a Garmin. Your Garmin your second Garmin? Yeah. It's it's the second time now.

So every time I have a GSA, and I hate to and I hate to say it, right, because everyone always you know what? People get on the Internet and everyone just, you know, rags on Garmin and and and BMW for this, but I noticed I was having some it's called ghost finger, which is hilarious, but I I I noticed that You're having some what? Say hold on. Say that again. Your goat?

What is that? Not like the the good kind of ghost fingering, but it's it's when your touchscreen on your Garmin seems like there is a ghost Jesus. Pressing, you know, the touchscreen. Right? So I had some of this when I was down in Baja, and I was, like, on my own in the middle of desert, and I'm like, yeah.

This is a good time for this to go sideways. Anyways, I just kind of ignored it because I I don't really use the Garmin as a GPS. I just use it as a extension of the dashboard. Anyways, I was trying to get on the ferry, and it just wouldn't work. It's like it would not it would not work.

So I went online on the Garmin. And by the way, even though it's under warranty for your BMW purchase, you have to go to Garmin and its online form. And they instantly got back to me, like, yeah, that's defective. I'm like, well, why didn't you contact me knowing, you know, that it's defective? They wait for you to to get in touch with them and say, yeah, it died.

And they're like, oh, yeah, they're all broken. So anyways, I'm gonna I'm gonna send it in. So there's no factory recall set up for that, you said? You just have to wait till it dies, and they hope that it dies after the warranty period is over so you're stuck with it. And the thing is expensive.

Right? It's the it's the Garmin brand so it's the BMW branded navigator six by Garmin, and it's what comes with the navigation package for any new GS or GSA. And I always order it that way because I like the cradle and I like the interaction with the magic wheel. But, yeah, another one died, and it's just a shame. Yeah.

That happens. So, I do understand you've had some pretty good luck with other pieces of electronic equipment lately. Why don't you tell us about your your, your your review on the information that you shared about the, the Shure SE two fifteen Pros, the earbuds that you well, I guess, earbuds. Yeah. They're earbuds.

Yeah. They're actually called in ear monitors. Right? They're a little bit different than earbuds. And I talked about it last week when I was going down to the ferry, and they are a huge win.

They just look and feel super high quality. You know, they're not cheap. They're a hundred bucks. In the helmet, they're so comfortable. They they have such a small low profile.

And what I learned just the other day, because, you know, I don't read manuals or watch reviews, which I should probably do more of, is I was putting a little dab of red paint on the right monitor because I can't see without my glasses. Right? So anyways and as I was doing that, I noticed that the little piece that fits in your ear hole, is sponge type material. It's the same type of material as a ear plug. So I go, ah, that's really smart because I was gonna change the size of it because I have, like, a big ear hole.

Right? And so you squish it down like an ear plug. You shove it in your in your in your ear holes, you hold it down for a second, and it expands. So I'm like, I am so like, it's very rare that I will say that a product is amazing, but I'm so happy with spending three times as much money as my $40 monitors I was using from Amazon, and I switched to these Shure ninety nine dollars ones. And I'm just so happy with this.

So anyone who uses in ear monitors, this is the way to go. Alright. Well, that's a good that's a good tip there as well. Just for the record, I absolutely believe in that kind of technology. And, I was gonna say that you should get get the, get the spare get some spare ones.

I've I've had a product that I've been using for years now. It's called Sound by Sweden. No guess where that's made. And it has the same thing, and that was the first time I had experienced that. And it gives great sound because, as you say, you squish it down, you put it in, and then it expands.

Mhmm. So, these are actually, I have active noise cancelling and the foam in there, so they really, really close out the noise on it. But, yeah, good that they're using that technology as well. Yeah. And it came with a huge packet of various sizes and spares.

Right? So I was, like, super happy with with everything. The build quality, the spares that came with it, everything was just, like, super geek out time. But speaking of geeking out, I just edited the Bo Ernest interview that's gonna, I think, drop next week, and I'm pretty excited about that. He's the current motorcycle cannonball record holder.

He did it in thirty two hours and thirty two minutes on his FJR 1,300. And, you know, just a genuine, super nice guy. And, you know, he puts so much effort into planning the route and building the machine. And, he is super honest about how he did it, and he's super honest about being inclusive. And whoever wants to do it, he'll he's happy to help you.

And, yeah. And then his next attempt, is gonna be on a Harley Davidson. So he's custom building right now. We were on video chat, and he took me on a tour of his garage. And it's just littered with just awesomeness.

Right? And when he's got Cool. A build that he's building right now, that he's gonna do the next attempt either this year or next year. Show us. So I'll be sure to go back and talk to him again, as that project progresses.

But yeah, really great interview dropping next week. That's cool. I just want to say, one of the things that we say consistently on this is that every time I reach out to somebody to talk to us, to interview, or to share information, it's like it is such everyone looks at this as a win win. And the truth is that it is a win win. Everybody wins.

So it's so nice that, it's the only podcast that we have. So I don't haven't picked any other segment. But I just remember when we did the Alcan, I was like, these people we're competing against. They wanna sit down with us and have a drink and help us get better. It's crazy.

Anyway, I remember spending a lot of time in my life actually in the boating community in, like, competitive sailing circles, and people wouldn't tell you anything about like, you can they can look at your boat when they sail by you and tell you what you're doing wrong, but they would never whisper a word of it. Don't tell them what they did wrong. We don't want them to beat us next week. Whereas in the motor community, they're like, hey, man. Get better.

The better you know, the better we all are, the better we all are. So Yeah. And he's and he is he's definitely that that type of guy. And and he was like, well, when you do an attempt, you know, call me, and I'll make sure that, you know, it's tracked correctly and and all this. So he was just super cool about it.

And speaking of people in the community, I received, at the ADV Cannonball headquarters a couple stickers from one of our competitors. And one of them is funny. It's the BMW black sheep sticker, and it says do what you want. And, there's one from Martindale motorcycle works. And, that's super cool.

So thanks for one of the competitors for sending us some stickers, and I will throw that up on the board. And, Taylor, maybe you can tell us about, the long awaited interview with Elzbeth, and you did that live on location in The UK. Maybe you can you can set that up for us. Yeah. That's a good that's a, a great answer to that.

Thank you, Aaron. Yeah. So I was on the trip with the with the family in London, and we had already arranged to meet with Jordan Gibbons and discuss with him, you know, his new book, Riding in the Wild. And I had previous prior to that, I had, texted Elspeth. And, you know, we know her as we have as we stated a couple of times before on this when, you know, when you flew her out for the, for the highly curated, event in 2023 in October out in the at the Aspen Ranch.

So we know her. So me just contacting her out of the blue wasn't, like, a crazy thing. And I so I texted her previously, and I hadn't heard back. And then I said, hey. I'm on the way to go interview with Jordan.

And, and then she said oh, and then she responded. And she goes, oh, why have time Friday? And then and, actually, when I was talking with Jordan, Jordan was like you know, I got a picture of her because he interviewed her when she was with m it was motorcycle news, m c n dot com. And he interviewed her, and he's like, I got a picture with her right outside of this garage. And I know that you had actually that, you posted the pictures on the Facebook site, the ADB Cannonball Facebook site of, of Jordan standing outside of his garage with a black door that says the shop on it.

So he says, yeah. I got a picture with Elspeth right outside here. So the, the setup was that we arranged to meet on a Friday, and then it fit in sort of with the the family itinerary. So I got on the train, and I went to Southwest London. And, actually, it's outside of Southwest London at Surrey.

And so it's like a forty six minute train ride from Waterloo Station, but it was a really smooth, you know, like a commuter rail. And Surrey is an area where, like, the bankers are living and commuting in. These are the kind of she said, these are the kind of people who can potentially influence the train lines and how fast they run. So there's quite a lot of quick service back and forth, very frequent service in and out of that survey area. But it's also funny.

When we, when we met her in 2023, she talked about the fact that she said, yeah. She says, you know, she went down and she bought this this, abandoned water tower that was, you know, derelict. And she bought it, and she said and then she got to the top of her water tower, and she said she could then look down upon the gentry of London. That's funny. Yeah.

So, yeah, she did a seven year renovation on that. And, so the setup was she met me at the station. She met me there on her I can't remember the name of the bike, but it was a a 400 cc Italian built with a Japanese motor, and she was funny. She says, this bike has the best of both worlds. It's got amazing Italian styling and a Japanese motor that always starts.

That's funny. Yeah. So she she met me at the station. She was totally kitted out in biker gear. And then in the town, it's like, you know, from one end to the other, you can walk in, you know, 30.

So we ended up, she's like, okay. So go to the Bell Tower, make a left, that's Main Street or High Street, and then, grab a couple of lattes, and then I'll meet you, and then we'll walk back to my office, which was, you know, another few seconds down that road. So I, came out of the the coffee shop, and and there she was. And she's like, we walked down a few doors, hooked a left, and then went there. We were standing in her or sitting in her, in her office, which is a building from the sixteen hundreds, which used to be a carriage house or the stable, to the building next door, which is, the hotel in that area.

So we sat there and had a nice chat, and I think the interview is, like, forty five minutes by the time you edited it down. Great job on the edit, by the way. Thank you. And then, and we chatted. And then after that, she went and she dropped off the bike.

I got some great pictures in her office while she went over about a mile away, dropped off the bike, picked up her car, came back, grabbed me. And then we went out there, and then I got a chance to tour the water tower, take more pictures. Also, you posted those. I got to see the bike that she actually rode around the world on. That was kinda cool.

She still got that. And she's got a few other bikes. She's got a Dakar series BMW and then an, another one that she just bought, I think, an r 1,000 that she bought. So, anyway, it was nice to see her her toy collection and then, and got a chance to see where she lives in this amazing this amazing tower that she's renovated. So she's got a lot of history, and, you know, she's well known.

She's most known for being the first British woman to motorcycle around the world. But in her own right, she's a really, really amazing architect, and she made herself a name not for being the first British woman to ride around the world, but for being a really impressive architect and doing these conversions in our office. There was a lot of really cool conversions and winning awards for converting an old barn into a, you know, a a high end home and really cool stuff. I I could sorry, Elspeth, if I got that one wrong, but you had some really cool awards on the walls from things that you had done, for your, yeah, for your architectural prowess. So, anyway, it was nice.

It was nice to, to just sit in that in that amazing space and feel the energy there, and it was super cool to go and check out her her water tower and where she lives. Then she dropped me back at the train station, and boom, I was back in London, and I was on to the next event with the family. So it was a great it was a great, yeah, it was a really a good experience. And it was nice to see her in her own turf because when we flew her off to Colorado, what was your experience there, Aaron? Yeah.

She she was obviously taken aback by all that Aspen is, and she was, you know, being a being a professional, presenter. And, you could definitely hear her her pleasure, being in her own environment. That comes through on the interview. So it was really nice to hear her, in her in her own world. Yeah.

She's super bubbly in the interview, and it was super fun to, to get a chance to chat with her. And I feel like in the time that I got to spend with her, the couple of hours that we spent together, I really got a chance to see who she is, as a person then more than in the time, you know, in the days that we got to spend, you know, in Colorado riding because that was a that was again, it was a curated event, and it was sort of, yeah, put on for for the people who were sponsoring it. So Yeah. Fun. I think there's a commercial for you, and then we will we will roll the, the interview.

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Thank you very much for having me in your very, very cute office, very close to your cute tower. In Godalming. Godalming. Is that how you say it? No.

Godalming. Godalming. That's why I say it. But no. That's not it's Godalming.

Godalming. Godalming. Sorry. I was trying to put it, and I was like when I was trying to enter it into the, into the app to, to come here, I was like, gold? Because I was like because I'd seen it in your text, and then I was like, gold?

No. It's not gold. Go dial. It Yeah. It doesn't just roll off the tongue, does it?

No. Anyway, as I was and I was coming here, I was doing some voice notes, just to capture information. And as I was walking through, I was like, this is the quintessential super cute British quaint town. It's really super cute. Yeah.

It's a very old town. It it it was it sort of grew up, or it kind of, it was because Guildford was the center of the wool trade. And so and a lot of the wool was then shipped up to London on the canal and Godalming, kind of grew at the same time that Guildford grew. So it's actually a very, very old town and, and it is the first town that had electric that had electricity and electric street lighting in eighteen something and Czar Peter, somebody stayed here in sixteen sixteen something. So it's very old.

As is your tower, if I recall, it's 1898 it was built. Very good. I've done my homework. A 30 feet tall, 40 meters. Very good.

And, and you it took you five years to renovate that. Well, it was about seven years, actually. And with a building like that, you never really it never really ends. You know? Once it's a bit like like painting the fourth bridge.

Once you finish, you just start again at the other end, and you just it's just this, you know, endless cycle of, you know, maintenance, repairs, refurbishment. So yeah. That yeah. So I bought it in 1988, and it was finished about 1994. That aspect of it, as you say, is never really quite done.

Exactly. Yeah. Perfect. So before we begin, I just wanted to really say, out of transparency, is that you and I met for the first time in October 2023 when Aaron, invited you to come out and participate in, yeah, one of the curated events that he did for, at the time, the gentleman that he was, yeah, supporting in in all things having to do with having fun. Yes.

Yes. Folks who know you for your, for your motorcycling and for your travels around the world. First of all, I just when I when I was doing research, I saw countless interviews, and there's, like, you've just gotta be tired of answering the question. So you're the first British woman to motorcycling around the world. That's gotta be I mean, so many interviews start the exact same way, so I wanted to make sure this was extremely different than that.

Very good. Would you say that at least I saw right off the bat there was like 18. I was like, there's countless hours of footage of you going through that, but it's a pretty amazing trip nonetheless. Well, it was and I think I mean, I've never been particularly fond or whatever of that title because it's it's not the reason I did the trip. I mean, you know, I traveled around the world from 1982 to 1984.

So, you know, way before internet, social media and it was in a time where people, you know, they traveled because they wanted to explore the world, they wanted an adventure and it was nothing to do with being the first, the oldest, the youngest, the most number of countries, you know, which all gets so boring and but that now seems to be very much why people do similar trips like that. And so I always feel that it it sort of detracts from why I did the trip and actually what a trip like that is all about which is about obviously exploring, seeing the world, but discovering, things about yourself, your your your limits, your how far and and and and what you're capable of and, you know, that's so and and and just sort of growing as a per I mean, you learn so much when you are doing a trip like that, and that's what the trip's about. It's not about being the first. Yeah. Well stated.

And as you say, there's so much of what's happening in today's market is about people trying to to, yeah, essentially get noted for a particular, I'm this, I'm that, I'm the fastest, I'm the we mentioned earlier in our conversation on the way here, I'm the fastest who's done it in, what, nineteen days and some odd hours or something crazy like that. It's going around the the globe on a motorcycle. But it's different now because it's it's a it's a business, you know, over the these and I and I I kind of admire them in a way that they that they, you know, that they get their YouTube channels and then they get all their followers and then they get paid by and it can it it means that they can continue to travel and get paid for it. And so it's but it's it's just a whole industry and a whole business now whereas, you know, forty years ago, it it wasn't like that. You know, I I worked in a pub for three for three and a half months, saved my 2 and a half thousand pounds, shipped my bike off to America, and that was it.

I was off and that's all I had was, you know, and and I had to work along the way and stop and so it was just it was just totally different. When we when we met, you talked about, and it's also in your book, is the fact that you sent out letters to people in, you know, industry, Rider Magazine, whom I can't remember the exact names. And and most of them didn't respond. Two did. BMW responded with a very professional and say, we appreciate that.

We build bikes for this. There are many people doing what you're doing, although that may not necessarily have been the case. And then one person came back with their team of editors, and they were extremely rude would be the polite way to say what they were. Yeah. It it was it was a very chauvinistic letter where they I mean, they basically treated me as if I was just a big joke, you know.

It was it was it was and it and it was and it was rude and it and I found it quite hurtful and I think the thing that I found hurtful about it was that they actually took the trouble to write the letter and it's in the days where there was no email so this letter had to be typed and then put in an envelope and then put a stamp on it and then go down to the post office. So actually there was a fair amount of effort to send this letter to insult me and I think that's what I found. I mean I I was quite I mean women women didn't really ride bikes or many women didn't really ride bikes in those days and so it was quite an unusual thing and I had my fair share of being, you know, sort of treated not particularly well when I used to go into bike shops and you know I was considered again a joke and slightly laughed at and what does she think she's doing riding a big bike or who does she think she is and so it it did get so I was sort of used to that attitude towards women you know riding bikes.

But I think for them to have just taken so much effort to to you know, to to really insult me and be really rude. You know, I it did But actually in in in a way it made me more determined and I was, you know, and it sort of I was I was so angry. I I can remember to this day opening that letter and getting it and I was seizing with, like, how dare they? So in a way, it was quite good because it it spurred me on even more to to, to think I'll bloody show them, you know? So, yeah.

Did you have an opportunity later to confront one of those writers of that letter? Well, interestingly, it's quite a good story this. So I I kept that letter. I've still got it. And after my book came out in February so this letter was written in 1982 before I left and so in 2017 when my book came out I was contacted by this guy in in America and I did a podcast for him and I sent him a, you know, copy of the letter and he put it on the Internet and this letter kind of spread around the Internet and, and the the guy who wrote the letter, I mean he worked for various bike magazines editors, he did test rides and wrote all these articles and all this for, I don't know, years, I think.

But now, the thing he's most well known for is the letter he wrote to me, which I think is brilliant. So it just shows in life, you just have to be a bit patient. I waited 35 years, but it it it all happened, you know, it just came full circle. And, and the fact that I kept the letter is pretty amazing. But I'd you know, for whatever reason, I kept it for thirty five years.

And now it's on the Internet and and that's what he's he's best known for. So He's best known for being that that chauvinist. Yeah. That's great. It's interesting.

When we met, you told a story. Again, very few people were interested in your story in the beginning. And then when you came back, it was, like, I don't know, was it thirty years later and then a Hollywood Producer contacted you? Yeah. So when I got back in 1984, there was no interest in what I'd done.

And, and then it was about 02/2007, '2 thousand and '8, a friend of mine was talking to somebody at BMW, and he mentioned what I'd done and so Andy said, well, why don't you just write a short, you know, whatever piece about her story, we'll put it up on our international website and and and so so Paul wrote this this short article put in a few pictures of me on my bike and this thing went viral which I had no idea about. So so so it went out and that was the first time my story was sort of out on the Internet which was about thirty years after I got back. So and then it was picked up by these Hollywood Producers in 02/2014. So it took about four four or five years to go round and round in circles on the Internet and then it was picked up in 02/2014 by these producers in Hollywood and they contacted me and wanted to buy the rights to my story to make a film. And and I said and they flew me out there and you know they were very nice and everything but I sort of decided that the first stage I wanted to it was to write my book so there was a true and accurate record of what I had done.

Bearing in mind at that time, I hadn't looked at any of my diaries or anything for thirty odd years. So, so I said thanks, but no thanks to Hollywood, and I came back and then I spent three years, doing my book. Yeah. There was a part there when we when we met, there was something that I thought was really interesting about that is that and and and correct me if I if I misunderstood you at the time, but it was that a Hollywood Producer contacted you and had a story about a woman that did a trip like this and they wanted to put your face on it. So is that Well, I I sort of felt that Hollywood already had in mind the sort of film they wanted to make and and and it wasn't going to be and and how close that was to my story, I wasn't kind of really sure.

I think I mean, that might have just been my impression of what or maybe it's a myth whatever of what you think Hollywood's like where you get these producers who already have some something in mind but it I I certainly felt as if they, you know, had a had a a, you know, a story in mind that they that they wanted to tell about a woman riding around the world on a motorbike and which was why I turned them down basically. And I and I and I came back to write my story about what happened to me, and that that's what I did with my book. So So is there the anyone knocking on your door now saying, okay, now let's go do that movie? Well, I've still got interest. I there's this producer in Australia.

So so I did sign a options agreement with, with some producers in, in LA, who had the option for about two years, but it was during COVID. It was just before COVID. And so, you know, the whole world turned upside down and so it it it was it just didn't happen basically. I think the the team that that that that I signed the agreement with, they all kind of left left LA and went their different ways and I it was all just a mess. And so and then I had an agreement with an Australian producer, which I've still sort of got now.

But it's but the whole world has changed and the whole streaming world, film world's all changed and people don't wanna say risks anymore and they're talking about doing a documentary series or whatever and I I don't know. I I'm I'm I'm not holding my breath, put it like that. But I I constantly get people who are interested, but it's it's just funding. It's interested but it's it's just funding it's it's it's and I think getting anything from, concept to actually the screen is a long process anyway at the best of times but I think now I think that there's a lot less, there's a lot less, you know, risks that they want, you know, they just don't want to take it. And especially with me that's not that's a sort of unknown person.

I mean it's much easier to, you know, to make a documentary of a already known celebrity and then they're pretty much guaranteed it's gonna earn their money. So it it's so I don't know. It it it might happen. It still might happen, but I would I would dare say that you are a known quantity. Well, thank you, but I don't I don't see myself like that.

I think that's one of the, one of the aspects of having, again, having done something like this and then still being so modest about it. It's like, yeah. This is what I did, and it didn't it didn't do it to be number one. It didn't do it to to do this to, to set any records. You did it for yourself.

Yeah. And and I suppose because it was such a long time ago and it was such a different time as well and and because as you say, I didn't do it to be the first or the whatever, you know, it was a very personal journey that I did for myself. It was I was at a stage of life where I didn't know whether I wanted to carry on doing architecture, what I wanted to do, I was brokenhearted, I just wanted to escape, I needed, you know, so it was a very it was very different reasons that I did the trip. So, yeah. And then and then because so much time has passed and I've done so many other things since, it's almost as if it was something that that somebody else did in a different life or or I did in a different life.

I don't and I don't and people come up to me now and say, oh, it was just absolutely incredible what you did. And I kinda don't really see it as that because I just got on my bike and I just left. I mean, I was 23 years old. I don't know whether yeah. I was young.

I was naive, which probably helped, you know. I I and I just kind of I just left. I just it was just something I just did. Yeah. It's that, again, it's a sense of adventure which ties into, you know, the, the motorcycles lend itself to that.

You know, I've read I've read something online. I just speaking of adventure and doing fun things, I saw online that did you get a private pilot's license in '91? I did. Yes. Tell me about that.

Well, no. That was a yes. So I got so my son was born in 1990 and I I didn't find motherhood easy. I think it was my I felt I lost my independence, I lost my identity, I and so I found the whole process of being a mother quite difficult to embrace. And so and actually getting my pilot's license was the thing that really helped me through it because when I was flying, I or learning to fly, I was so a % absorbed and focused on what I was doing trying to not crash this plane.

But you know what I mean? This and and it just could totally took me away from my other life that I was really struggling with. I mean, it didn't help that when Tom was born, you know, the tower was still a building site and so, you know, it was a very different my father had just died and so it was a very difficult phase of my life I was going through. And so and the flying was just this thing that I had that just took me away from it all just just for an hour a week, but it just kind of helped me through it. And then I got so I got my license, yes, in in '91 and then I went out to America, I did an instrument rating in Florida, I did my seaplane rating, my floats in Florida, and then I did some flying in out in Australia and and then three or four years ago, I I I started to learn to fly a helicopter which was great, but that that was more a challenge thing.

So so I just wanted to I just wanted to master being able to fly a helicopter. So but that was good. That was good fun. So have you have you progressed with the the helicopter license? No.

Once I could one once I could hover and I could, do circuits and land it and do 361 way and 360 the other way without losing any height and all that kind of stuff, that was it really. And then COVID happened anyway, and then, I don't know, I just stopped flying. But it was fine. It was great. I I really enjoyed what I did, but I I never got my license.

Do you still maintain I know that Aaron and I both have, private pilot's licenses, and it's sort of one of those things. You just add the you know, you've got x and y already when you're navigating boats, and you just add the y axis and then you're flying planes. So but I remember, like, when we left Florida, I remember going, this is just it's a lot to maintain. You gotta do three takeoffs, three landings, nighttime, daytime. Do you still do all that and is your current license?

I don't know. I I my license was current for about fifteen years and then I let it lapse. It was it was I was I was building my practice. I was so manically busy, working, and trying to finish the, was I how did I finish the tower by then? I can't remember but it was just one step and I'd done a lot of flying.

I'd I'd flown around Australia. I'd flown in Africa. I'd flown in America. I'd had my license fifteen years. It had kind of served its purpose, and I think it's different because I think in America, having a pilot's license makes a lot more sense in a way because, you know, the distances are far greater, flying is much cheaper, fuel's much cheaper, you know, whereas here in The UK, it's ridiculously expensive and, you know, and it's really busy out there, you know.

There's a lot you you constantly having to talk to to, you know, to to get clearance to go through this bit and that bit. It's just it's just not that great fun, really. It's it's it's just hard work flying here. Yeah. It's, absolutely, it's a lot of work.

And and, my, one of my, friends and, and my instructor was a guy named Magnus Slater, and he's Scottish. And, he was like, yeah. It's just so expensive everybody most Europeans are coming here to get their licenses. And, so I I got I got I guess it was right it was before 09:11 when I got my license. So then, like, when Aaron and all my other friends were getting their licenses, they were like, what's all this?

Did you have to go through all the security stuff? And I was like, no. No. I didn't have to go through all that. They said, yeah.

We actually had to learn how to take off and land planes when I was in school. I wanna switch back over to your book here for a second talking about adventure. So in your book, I thought it was really interesting. Is it two of the most challenging countries that you traveled in, which are very clearly put, painted out and to why? One of them was Australia, which is totally surprising.

I think a lot of that had to do with the terrain and the distances and the mud. And the and the other, the other was India. So you've been back to India since then. Yes? I have.

I was actually invited to in, attend India bike week in December, just gone, so December 24. And, I mean, I I did get back to India in the early two thousands when I was doing when I was taking 30 motorcyclists around the world. But that was quite a short, sort of in out. So this was the first time I've really been back to to to India and I was very apprehensive because as you say, when I was there forty years ago, it was seriously hard work. For a woman on your own, it was really hard work.

I think it was just a constant attention and and, you know, being followed around everywhere. It was just it just did become, you know, exhausting. Plus the fact I was incredibly ill when I was there. I mean literally from the minute I set foot in the country, I was I was ill for nine months. You know, I lost, you know, two and a half stone in weight.

So it was a, you know, it was a difficult country, I found it a very difficult country to travel through so I was apprehensive when I was invited back and but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I mean I do think, I mean I I was I I flew it into Mumbai and then they gave me a Harley Davidson although I well apparently it's not a real Harley Davidson it's it's made by Hero, but they put a Harley Davidson badge on the tank as I was told, but that might not be true. Anyway, so they, they gave me a Harley Davidson and then I had a three day ride with a group of celebrities down to Goa to North Goa which is where the event was. And you know I mean it was like you couldn't even compare what it was like traveling, forty years ago to what it's like traveling now. But I I do think that Goa is a little bit of a sort of oasis because it's it's it's it it totally depends on tourists.

It's all very clean. Yeah. The food's fantastic. I didn't get ill in two weeks. I mean, I couldn't believe it.

I didn't nothing. So, it it it is a transformed country. And I think one of the one of the real kind of main change is is the fact that you can buy water that that that you can drink. So when I was there forty years ago, you couldn't get any kind of water, bottled water. It just didn't exist.

And so and it was incredibly difficult just to find something you could drink that wasn't going that wasn't going to make you ill. And I had a Swiss, catechin water filter, So I used to have to pump and filter my water every morning, but even that I still got ill, you know. And and so I think now the fact that you can buy this water everywhere all over, well certainly in the part of the India that I was recently in is an absolute game changer, you know, and and if you stop on the side of the road and you have some chai, you know, they've actually got a toilet, you know, and not only a toilet, you've got one that actually flushes, you know. It's it's it's it's these basic things that we take for granted, but just did not exist, you know, before. And and so I think that the whole level of hygiene is is just totally transformed the country.

So for me because being ill when I was there was quite a major, you know, it it would being ill for nine months is not fun and I got, you know, I got hepatitis, I got dysentery, as well as just being ill the whole time. And so it's it's, so that made a big, big difference. But also the food was fantastic. The hotels were I mean, I think it was obviously made a difference that I was, you know, I did have a VIP a VIP trip, which is very nice, which is totally different to my, you know, scratching around on a shoestring that I was doing, like, forty years earlier. So, yeah.

It was I mean, you couldn't even compare it in the you know, it was so totally different. It's interesting that the, the trip that took you there the first time is what actually brought you back as a celebrity the second. I know. It it is weird, isn't it? It really is weird.

I know. I have a question for you about the Himalayas. So as you probably remember us talking about, we are in September, Aaron and I are doing a trip with seven other individuals, and, we have some local people on the ground who are supporting us in that trip who know as I I think about your I as I was we we had we had booked this, and then I read your book again. And then I was like, oh, right. India was a really tough part.

So it's a good thing we have good agents to handle, getting through, yeah, the permits you need to access certain territories. So we have that in place. Other than that being a challenge, can you can you comment can you give any advice to us or to to our team who are going through this or those who are on the way to the Himalayas about riding on the roads and how you handle trucks? Avoid them like they're playing. No.

They are they are it's funny. I once you get used to the way they drive and you know and they they are actually incredibly skilled drivers. I mean, they're driving these trucks on these mud tracks across broken bridges and roads that have half fallen down the mountain and they managed to get these tracks the the the these these trucks through and so they're incredibly skilled drivers, and then but they just do have their kind of way. And you just I I don't know. I mean, I I, I just used to pull over.

I mean, if I saw a truck coming, I would just kinda get overweight. I think it's being patient as well. Never be in a rush. Don't don't you know, you have to kind of switch your brain into a different, mode of, you know, you don't think, right, oh, this is a hundred miles so I can be there in x number of hours, you know. It's not like that.

You you've just got to take each mile as you as it comes, take each corner as it comes and you and then where you get is where you get to and that's the way you have to kind of think. So it's just a slightly different mindset. But I think now the roads are a lot better than they were when I, you know, when I was there. I mean I haven't ridden well actually no I did ride. I rode from Kathmandu to Lhasa, in Tibet in 9098 I think '97, '90 '8.

But the roads were pretty awful because we because then we rode over the Himalayas. And that was, yeah, that was actually that was quite challenging. Yeah. I forgot about that. It's it's interesting that you mentioned that.

There are there's some obviously, we talked about a moment ago, about people going in and being able to actually make a living for riding motorcycles. And, a couple of days ago when I was meeting with Jordan about, his travels, he was saying, yeah, there's only a few people in the world who actually get to make a living doing that. So one of the things that I wanna talk to you about is Itchy Boots, who is now one of those individuals who is one of the most watched, podcasters I'm sorry, not podcaster, but YouTuber about her travels. And, it's always a new motorcycle. It's a different thing, and she's just done that.

So what do you think about people who've entered into that space? I think it's, I mean, it's not my world, to be honest. I I I and I'm always really glad that I got to travel and see the world when I did. And I and it's quite interesting because I recently when I was doing this, when I went to India and I and I did the ride from Mumbai to to Goa for India bike week, so that was with a group of other riders and two of them were influencers. So they had their YouTube channels and were making it so that the so they are these people who who who were making a business and a life from just traveling and but I have to say it did change my because I always thought these, I I don't really know what I thought, but there was this it it it really made me realize how hard they have to work to get their content.

So, like, every day or, you know, they have to make they have to do a video. They have to do this. They have to do a blog. They have to do a post. And I mean, it was almost like an obsession for them.

And you just think that is not traveling. That is not having an adventure. Ferry place to take a little ferry across to the next bit. And and, you know, and they'd jump off their bikes, and they and they wouldn't look or stop and say, oh, this is fantastic, and have a look around. They'd look, right.

Now what can I film? What can I get? Where can I stand? Where can I park my bike? Why should I do this?

What am I gonna say about this place? And and then and then by the time they'd done that, we were on the on the ferry, and then on the ferry, they were doing it again. And then we get off the other side, and they were doing it again. It's just this constant, you know, making videos and, I mean, that is not traveling. Sorry.

But not in my book because you're not actually seeing where you are. It's just your it's just relentlessly. You've got to look for for stuff to talk about and content and making these videos and getting it out there, and then they'd spend half the night just just uploading it and editing it and, you know, reediting it and posting it. And, I mean, I don't understand half of it, you know, because I've never got got in involved in any of that. But, I mean, just the work they had to put in to do it, it was almost as if that's all they were doing.

The trip had actually just become about making content and getting it up there to get some money to make more content to make another you know, what is the point? When I was talking to, to captain Lee Rossback who is the series of Below Deck, he's an old friend of mine from my old neighborhood, And he was talking about, he said, you know, I learned a lot about TV and and, what actually didn't make it into the podcast. I was like, what have you learned? And he's like, I've learned that you've got to do everything twice. You've got to learn maybe not everything, but you've got to do if if something happened that was, you know, like there's a fire in the galley and they didn't get it on tape, well, you gotta have a fire in the galley again because you gotta get it on tape.

Yeah. But then then it's kind of, you know, your it is in control of your trip. You are not in control of your trip. It that it is controlling your trip and it's like I know this is a slightly different sort of you know sort of analogy, but it's like owning a 30 foot high water tower. You you you I do ask myself the question do I own the building or does the building own me and that's a very similar sort of thing you know are you in control of your trip or is your trip controlling you?

Yeah. I guess that that's, that ties in with with any aspect of life. If you think about, you know, like we just moved from, we went to about 50% of, of the size that we had in our in our place in Stockholm. And, one of the questions when we were sorting things, which we started six months in advance. And every time I go into a room and we say, right, we're gonna this weekend, we're gonna sort this room.

And then we'd always have to start with the question, Do we own our stuff, or does our stuff own us? Exactly. So one of the things that, that, Aaron and I saw was a German YouTube channel, Mark Travels, who was on an electric motorcycle. Now he was on the he was one of these influencers who was on the ride down from Mumbai to to Goa. So, how did you how did you make his acquaintance?

Well, as I say, he was he was he was invited as one of the influencers, to join the ride from from Mumbai to Goa. And I have to say, he was a really nice guy and I got on really, really well with him, but he was the one that made me realize how much work was involved in in in doing all this YouTube channels and blogging and whatever and making a making a business out of traveling. And, I mean, I did feel that he was that that it had sort of taken over his his whole trip. It was just all about content and where I can get it and and I mean, he seemed to enjoy it and he seemed to be very good at it. So, you know, it's horses for courses.

Yeah. Fair enough. I missed the initial segue there that he was one of those those those influencers. More to the question about actually EV motor cycles. I know that Aaron had talked about, opening up a putting a separate set of rules in our dispensation for those who are, if they wanna do the the adventure cannonball rally on an on an electric motorcycle, then the range is like 200 miles at the top end, and that's maybe gonna you need three three of those batteries to get you through the day.

So there's potentially a, it's made it, a rule around that if somebody wants to come into it. So far we haven't had any electric motorcycles in. Do you have any, any comments on EVs or have you had time to play with any of them? I have. I I rode a Zero, many years well, actually it was one of the first Zeros that they made, and I, you know, I have I mean it was it was incredibly fast, it was incredibly smooth, and obviously you don't have to change gear so that helps.

But to me it's not a real motorbike, You know, I I I like a motorbike that sounds like a motorbike. I like a motorbike that smells like a motorbike. You know, that's just because I've been riding for forty five years you know, and that's what I grew up with and you know, and I like changing gear. It's it's all part of it's all part of riding a bike is is so I'm not saying there isn't a place for them, but I can't imagine I would be buying an electric bike anytime soon. Yeah.

Fair enough. I have, the closest I've come to it is, I have an electric scooter, and it is it's it's nice. It's so simple. Right? You don't have to it's like and when it's time to winterize it, which of course, you know, sadly we have to do in Sweden, is we just, you know, put a coat of wax on it, pull the battery out, put it in storage, and then come back and get it.

There's nothing to go wrong. Everything just sits exactly as it. And then come back six months later, throw the battery back into it, and away you go. There's that convenience aspect. But you're right, There is, there's no there's no fuel smell.

There's no shifting gears. There's no noise. There's no putting a different muffler on to have a different sound to it. So that aspect of it, is missing. Mhmm.

It's just yeah. I just, as I say, I I just like I just like to know I'm on a motorbike. Yeah. Fair enough. So when we met in 2023, I wanna switch over and talk about your tower for a second.

So you said first of all, how many steps are there from? So to the roof, it's a 41. So it's it's six floors. So they've got the hall on the Ground Floor, bedroom, bathroom, bedroom, bathroom, sort of office stroke bedroom, kitchen on the Fourth Floor, living room on the Fifth Floor, and then a roof terrace. So it's a 41 steps to the roof.

It's a 16 to the living room, and it's 89 to my kitchen. The rest of it, I don't I don't know. I just walk upstairs. So when we met, you told me, you said first of all, I wanna say that, you know, most people would go to the gym to get in shape and you just go home. I do.

Yeah. No. It's brilliant. I tell you. It's fantastic exercise.

I I I've I've managed to keep, you know, pretty fit for well, up until now anyway. And, you know, I do I must go up and down those stairs five, six times a day. So that's a hundred steps. Five times, 500, whatever. Between 508 steps a day, just by living in the tower.

I don't have to think about it, and that's what I because I have quite a busy life. I don't have time to go to the gym. I don't wanna go for a run. I don't wanna go for a cycle ride, specifically to to be to exercise. I'd rather exercise.

I think it's really important that exercise is just part of your life in in a very natural way, and that's what living in the tower is. So I don't have to make any effort to to to go and exercise specifically. I just live in the tower. Yeah. It seems like you've created that that that for you.

One of the things I think is funny is that you had mentioned if you could comment, you said at any moment you mentioned a moment ago about, when you became a mom and you you had a nanny. You didn't mention that early, but when we first met you did. Now tell me tell me how the nanny got on with the stairs. Right. Well, yes.

So my my first nanny, so she came, she is lovely and she's a very good nanny. But she was about, I don't know, fourteen, fifteen stone, maybe fourteen stone when she arrived. How much is a stone for those who don't know? I I knew you were gonna I was gonna ask. Well, nine stone is about 60.

So anyway, yeah. So she was well, she was a slightly she was rather on the large side. Okay? So let's put it like that. And, and she came to work at the tower and she was there for a year and a half or two years and she lost, she probably lost about 30% of her weight, okay?

Put it like that. Yeah. So she was fifteen stone when she arrived. She was about ten stone when she left, and she was back to fifteen stone when she about five five years later. And it was simply being in the tower, walking up and down those stairs.

Yeah. That's, I'm looking forward to seeing that. So, we're actually we're sitting in your office just for those, those who I'll I'll put a I'll put a picture up Yeah. As well. Of of the, of where we're currently sitting, but it's this quaint place with a open open beam structure in and building that was built.

This building was well, this used to be the stables as as part as part of the hotel, and Peter the Great stayed in the hotel in sixteen something, '16 '20 '8, I think. So this is quite old. Quite old. It's quite beautiful. Yeah, it has a really authentic feel to it.

So I'll get some pictures of this. It's got a nice mix between, modern desks and, and surface spaces and, and old. So it's quite nice. We'll get some pictures in here. And, and with that, I just wanna say thanks very much for taking the time to, to sit down and chat with Adventure Cannonball podcast.

Thanks very much for your time, Elsa. Thank you. Thank you. Is Colombia safe? Forget what you've heard in the media.

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Are you ready? Visit columbianmotorcycletour.com and start your adventure today. And we are back. Yeah. Aaron Pufall.

Yeah. Nice job on that. Thanks, man. That was really, really fun. It was just yeah.

It was nice. It was really fun to see Elspeth in a different environment and the chat about, yeah, some of the things that we had talked about initially in 2023 and get clarification on those things. And what I what really stood out for me is the fact that she's like and and this come this is in the book as well. You can get this in the book, but it was really nice to hear from her. And she's like, I didn't do this to be the first at anything.

She did it to find herself as a human being and to get over heartbreak and to have an experience and to have a life experience, and she really put herself out there, and she made it happen. Yeah. It's really great interview. She's a great person, and, that's a great story. And anyone who wants to, read one of her books, you should go to her website, and I will put that link in the show note.

And, yeah, great job on that. Thanks for, thanks for doing that. And I wanted to mention, that I had to add a tie breaking rule. There's been a bunch of people asking about the 2025 ADV cannonball. What if there's a tie in points?

And mathematically, it is near impossible. But people kept on asking me, and, of course, you asked me too. So, there's a new draft rule, seven h seven hotel, and it reads something like this. In the unlikely event of a points tie for the overall winner at the end of the rally, the competitor with the most first to arrive bonuses will be awarded the overall winner. So in other words, each day there are bonus points for the rider that arrives first to the hotel.

So if there's a a tie in points, we look to which person who is in the tie for the for the winning position who has the most first to arrive, awards. And if there's another tie, which is so unlikely it's ridiculous, then we will conduct a sudden death, full contact, slow race, that will be held one hour before the awards banquet. That should be fun. You know what'd be really fun, Aaron, is if we did, like, a really slow speed course in the parking lot. Yeah.

That's kinda what a slow race is is you have a a start line and a finish line, and the the last person to arrive to the finish line, but it is sudden death and it is full contact. So, you know, some people call it a a knife fight in a, in a phone booth, right? So it doesn't matter what you do, if you wanna be the smartass and go in front of the guy or you wanna try to push him over, that's your business, that's full contact. But the truth of the matter is, when you try to do these things, you usually end up screwing yourself. So anyways, in a highly unlikely event all those circumstances are met, that's how we will resolve that issue.

There'll be no swords or armor or anything? No. You won't need it because it's near impossible. Slow race is is so difficult. It is I've I've tried several times, and I have I have never won.

And I sorry. We're way over time, and I just wanted to thank a couple more sign ups. Number 37 number 37 is Matt Fletcher from the coolest town ever called Speedway, Indiana, and he is on a speedy bike. He's on a Ducati Multistrada twelve sixty s. So thank you very much Nice.

For Matt for, for signing up. And that's all I got for today, Taylor. And with that, I wanna say thanks very much for another amazing episode. Yeah. That was really great.

And thanks again for, doing that trip to speak with, Elspeth. That was really great. You're very welcome. Okay. Roll the outro.

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