Ben Saunders - Polar Explorer, Motivational Speaker

Busybusybusy

I'll write something decent soon (there's a lot to write about) but right now, life is flying by at a hundred miles an hour (and it's 1am). In the interim, I'll leave you with the fabulous Ethan Zuckerman's prolific blogging from PopTech last week.

{ Filed under Random thoughts and reflection on October 28th, 2005 | 3 Comments }

Rollerskiing, Heroes and PopTech

Tony and I had our first rollerski coaching session yesterday morning in (an unseasonably warm and sunny) Hyde Park. As I basically ski for a living, it felt slightly awkward admitting that my skate ski experience (Wikipedia has a nice article on the differences between classic and skate, or 'free' XC-skiing) was practically nil.

Thankfully, Tony and I took to it like a couple of (fairly unstable) ducks to water and Iain, our coach, had us whizzing around the park in no time. It was easier to pick up than I had at first feared, but at the same time I get the impression it's one of those sports you could still be mastering years after taking it up. Much like dragging a sledge through an airport, you get tons of funny looks and it's a great conversation-starter. What's more, even our modest beginner's session proved a good workout, and if you live near one of London's parks and fancy something different to the usual sweaty spinning class, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it - www.rollerski.co.uk.

On a much sadder note, two of my heroes (both cyclists) died recently. Zak Carr was knocked off his bike yesterday morning, and John Ibbotson passed away at his desk (aged 27) a few days ago. The thing is that I'd admired them from afar - John spent a few hard years as a pro cyclist on the continent (one of my unfulfilled childhood dreams, and one of the toughest existences imaginable) and Zak was one of the 'testers' or time-triallists that make British cycling so unique; out racing alone, against the clock on windswept stretches of road, week in, week out, when most people are still tucked up in bed. Both were true role-models for Britain's kids - not for them the overnight Pop Idol 'success'; these guys knew what it was to follow their passion, to slog their guts out chasing goals that often seemed elusive and unattainable, and to share the passion they had for sport, and for life, with everone around them.

I'm in the States for the rest of this week, at the (incredible) PopTech conference in (the equally incredible) Camden, Maine. I'm not speaking this year, but I'm looking forward to chilling out for a few days in some very esteemed company.

{ Filed under Cycling, Training on October 18th, 2005 | 1 Comment }

The 6.7-mile Velodrome

I've recently switched to doing all of my training first thing in the morning (unless I'm travelling, in which case it gets squished in where/whenever I can) as it's a) a great way to start the day, b) a huge incentive to get to bed before midnight and c) most of Richmond Park is closed to car traffic until 7:30 am. I went out for a blast on my road bike first thing this morning (see crummy cameraphone shot) and it was glorious. The deer, a few other cyclists (each one flashing me a knowing grin, or shouting a polite 'morning!') and I had the place to ourselves.

Today's speak-athon actually went rather well, and although I'm pretty frazzled now, it was a great opportunity to tweak bits of my presentation, and to play with a few new ideas. The afternoon flew by and the audiences I spoke to (mostly PC World employees) were fantastic, with many of them queuing up to shake my hand afterwards.

Anyway, I'm off to pump up my tyres for a few laps of the park tomorrow morning, before a train ride to the Lake District for another talk tomorrow night.

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."
—Arthur Conan Doyle

{ Filed under Cycling on October 12th, 2005 | 11 Comments }

Endurance Speaking

The boundaries between athlete Ben and speaker Ben are about to become very blurred this afternoon. I'm writing this from the Hilton Metropole hotel in Birmingham, where I'm about to give no less than seven consecutive twenty-minute talks at a conference.

I remember reading once that Tony Robbins used to relish giving dozens of presentations a week when he was an up-and-coming speaker. Right now, I'm feeling a little spaced-out; life recently has been so incredibly hectic that I'm wondering when I'm going to have the chance to catch my breath (or write a book, for that matter). If this sounds like I'm whinging, I'm not - at some point in the last fortnight, I seemed to have reached my own personal tipping point and some of the opportunities that are whizzing my way are mind-blowing. Exciting times. More soon…

{ Filed under Random thoughts and reflection on October 12th, 2005 | 3 Comments }

So…

A long overdue update on what's happening in Ben's World, in easy-to-digest, bullet-pointed format…

• The website's fixed. It transpired that the company that had been hosting bensaunders.com for the last four years were in a spot of trouble - their entire sales team were laid off, the website stopped working and my emails/calls went unanswered. Pete Barr-Watson stepped into the breech and offered to host it on his company's server. It's thanks to Pete that you're reading this now, and his patience in answering my numbskull emails has been astounding.
• Tony found a dead body in his house last weekend. He noticed the post piling up for the chap that lived above his room, took it upstairs like the thoughtful person he is and noticed an odd smell as he walked down the landing. The police think he'd been dead for a fortnight. Jeepers.
• I'm having a wisdom tooth removed tomorrow (Monday) morning. It's a preemptive measure - I had problems with it earlier this year and I could do without it acting up in Antarctica.
• I went to a fantastic lecture at the Royal Geographical Society last Friday night - Chris Bonington, Doug Scott et al. talking about their 1975 Everest SW Face expedition. I can't tell you how refreshing it was (after a week of trying to 'align' SOUTH with 'brand values') to hear some of my heroes talking about adventure for adventure's sake. Glorious.
• Tony and I are having some intensive rollerski coaching over the next few weeks. Expect photos of us falling over lots soon.
• I'm twiddling around with a(nother!) redesign of bensaunders.com - it may or may not look like this once I've had enough of playing with it. Minimalist, innit!
• I'm writing a book. Well, at least the proposal for a book. Early days yet, but the idea I once had of an easy life as an author has already been blown to smithereens. Much like this website, I'm never quite happy with how it looks…
• I've been a busy boy on the speaking front recently (see number 27 of my 28 Things). The south of France this weekend, Birmingham and the Lake District next week.
• I'm attending the PopTech! conference in Camden, Maine the week after next. I'm not speaking this year, and the thought of four days of chilling out in the presence of some of the greatest thinkers, movers, and shakers around is tantalising. Can't wait.
• Last up, I'm experimenting with ecto - a nifty bit of software that may well lead to easier/quicker/better quality/more prolific blogging from yours truly. I'll let you know how it goes (and I'll no doubt be using it to grumble about toothache tomorrow).

On on!

{ Filed under Miscellany on October 9th, 2005 | 14 Comments }

Back in Business

Wahey! It looks like the website's finally working again. I'm at the Hotel Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice (which is, er, nice) for a speaking gig right now and I'm late for dinner, so a full-on post on what I've been up to recently will have to wait until later on this evening…

(Thanks Pete!)

{ Filed under Random thoughts and reflection on October 7th, 2005 | 14 Comments }