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JULY 1991: Steve Smith invites
Jason Lewis to collaborate on an expedition to circumnavigate
the planet using only human power. Pedal for the Planet (now
Expedition 360) is born. |
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1992: THE EXPEDITION IS FOUNDED with
the support of the Council for Education in World Citizenship
(CEWC, London). HRH The Duke of Gloucester agrees to be patron.
Steve raises start-up funds by completing a sponsored solo bike
ride from London to the Sahara desert (1700 miles) in 16 days. |
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1993-4: PEDAL BOAT MOKSHA IS DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED
at the Exeter Maritime Museum in Devon, England, by Hugo Burnham
and Chris Tipper. Jason and Steve work at the CEWC offices in
London; soliciting equipment and cash sponsorships, planning
the route, building the framework for visiting schools en-route
etc. Maria Stubbs, Stuart and Sylvia Smith and Sebert and Gillian
Lewis provide key support. |
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JAN 1994: OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF MOKSHA by
HRH The Duke of Gloucester into
the River Thames in London. |
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JULY 1994: STEVE AND JASON DEPART ON BIKES 12th
July from the Greenwich Meridian Line in London, England (zero-degree
line of longitude). They reach Rye on the south coast from where
they launch Moksha the next day to pedal 33 miles across The
Channel to Boulogne, France. |
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JULY to AUGUST 1994: OVERLAND SECTION BIKING from
Boulogne to Lagos, Portugal. Along the way the pair pass through
Paris and meet with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation) who offer to help with coordinating
schools' visits around the world. Steve and Jason also visit
children's summer camps in France, Spain and Portugal; giving
talks about the expedition to inspire young people to also live
their dreams. |
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SEPT 1994: STEVE AND JASON ARRIVE IN THE TOWN OF LAGOS
on the Portuguese Algarve. This is to be the launching point
to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Miami. |
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SEPT to OCT 1994: ATLANTIC PREPARATIONS GET UNDERWAY
for the 4300-mile crossing. |
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OCT 1994: MOKSHA DEPARTS LAGOS. 14
days later Moksha stops off in Madeira (600 nautical miles (nms)
to the SW) for a week to repair the skeg and faulty video camera. |
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JAN 27th 1995: AFTER 84 DAYS AT SEA,
Steve and Jason arrive on the island of Providenciales in the
Turks and Caicos Islands (just south of the Bahamas) to restock
on food. |
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FEB 1995: STEVE AND JASON MAKE LANDFALL IN MIAMI,
Florida to international press reception - 111 days pedaling
from Lagos. They are the first people to pedal the Atlantic
Ocean from East to West. American Dwight Collins first pedaled
the Atlantic from West to East. |
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FEB-MAY 1995: FUNDRAISING AND SCHOOLS' VISITS
in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area. |
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JUNE 1995: STEVE AND JASON DEPART FT. LAUDERDALE
overland across the US bound for San Francisco. Steve uses a
bike, Jason In-line skates (rollerblades). After St. Petersburg.
Florida they part ways - seeking a much needed break from each
other. Steve travels a southerly route and is joined by girlfriend
Eilbhe Donovan from S. Ireland - also on a bike. Jason takes
a mid-continent route. |
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SEPT 1995: JASON IS RUN OVER BY A CAR
in Pueblo, Colorado breaking both legs. It takes 9 months for
him to recover. Steve's father Stuart looks after him on surgeon
Dr. Danbury’s buffalo ranch in the mountains. |
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OCT 1995: STEVE AND EILBHE ARRIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO
and start preparing for the next leg until Jason catches up. |
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APRIL 1996: JASON AND BOAT BUILDER CHRIS TIPPER TOW MOKSHA
across country from storage in Florida to San Francisco. They
then bike the 1700 miles back to Colorado. This proves to be
good physiotherapy for Jason's legs. |
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JUNE 1996: JASON AND LOCAL 5TH GRADE
TEACHER APRIL DEPART PUEBLO from
the spot where Jason was mown down to finish his cross country
skate to San Francisco. April rides a bike carrying the equipment
and supplies while Jason skates along side for protection. |
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SEPT 1996: JASON AND APRIL ARRIVE
7 weeks later at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco. |
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SEPT 96-FEB 1997: PREPARATIONS BEGIN FOR THE NEXT LEG;
overland by bike through Central America to Peru. The plan is
to then have Moksha shipped to Peru ready to be pedaled across
the South Pacific to Australia using the anticlockwise currents.
While the team bike south, Moksha is put on public display at
the Monterey Maritime Museum with Stuart Smith as fund-raiser
and coordinator. |
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FEB-JUNE 1997: JASON, JENNY MACKENZIE
(Redwood City, CA), Ollie Briche and Carole Servant (France)
bike California Highway 1 to San Diego, through Baja, Mexico,
before being joined by Theresa Ortolani (San Francisco) to cross
the Sea of Cortez to mainland Mexico by kayaks. Jason then continues
alone through the remainder of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador
and Honduras. |
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AUG 1997: THE CENTRAL AMERICAN LEG HAS TO BE ABANDONED
after it becomes evident that the strong effect of the 1997
El Nino has reversed the winds and currents in the South East
Pacific, making it impossible to pedal across that particular
ocean region. Jason returns from Honduras. An alternative route
across the Pacific from California to Australia is planned.
This option is far less preferable however due to counter-currents
in the ITCZ/doldrums. |
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OCT-NOV 1997: JASON AND STEVE DECIDE TO LET A COUPLE OF OTHERS
have a go at pedaling to Hawaii to allow more time to develop
the educational programs that are becoming more and more an
integral part of Expedition 360. John Walker (UK) and Casey
Dunn (US) team up to pedal to Hawaii. |
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NOV-DEC 1997: JOHN AND CASEY PEDAL
140 miles out from Monterey before being driven back by a southerly
storm. They are towed the last 20 miles by Morro Bay coast guard.
Moksha is left on a mooring buoy in San Simeon cove while John
and Casey are taken safely back to Morro Bay. In the ensuring
storm Moksha capsizes on the mooring and fills with water due
to large holes having been ripped from the deck. |
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6-DAYS PASS BEFORE IT IS SAFE ENOUGH to attempt salvage.
After 10 hrs of struggling in near freezing water and minimal
equipment the boat is eventually self-righted and taken to Morro
Bay by the team. |
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MAR 1998: Steve and Jason begin preparations
for a third attempt at crossing the Pacific, this time together.
Steve resurrects Moksha from a dilapidated state while Jason
secures the replacement of destroyed equipment from existing
sponsors. Curriculum entitled 'The Classroom Expedition' is
developed: 9-11 year olds will follow the expedition via satellite
and integrating Jason and Steve's experience with classroom
studies. |
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SEPT - NOV 1998: JASON AND STEVE TAKE 53-DAYS
to pedal from the Presidio Yacht club in San Francisco to Hilo
on the big island of Hawaii. School visits and cultural exchange
programs on the island are initiated. |
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FEB 1999: JASON, STEVE, EDIE LEITNER
(CA), Travis Perkins (CA - 12th grade student), Scott Morrison
and Avery (Kona, HI) hike 80 miles across the big island from
Hilo to Kona in 4 days. |
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FEB 1999: STEVE ANNOUNCES HIS DECISION TO LEAVE
the expedition and pursue other interests including a sustainable
development project in New Zealand. Jason prepares to cross
the remainder of the Pacific solo. |
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MAY 3RD 1999: JASON AND MOKSHA
depart Kailua-Kona on the east side of the island bound
for Tarawa - a small island atoll in the Republic of Kiribati
(a chain of 33 atolls), 2,200 miles to the southwest. The voyage
is expected to take approximately 60 days. |
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JULY 1999: 73 DAYS LATER JASON ARRIVES IN TARAWA.
The voyage has taken much longer due to being trapped by countercurrents
in the ITCZ for two and a half weeks. Jason also contracted
septicemia (blood poisoning) half way and is lucky to survive.
Maurice Jacobsen (US media team) and April fly into film Moksha's
arrival and coordinate school's activities. |
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SEPT-APRIL 2000: THE EXPEDITION IS ON HIATUS
during the southwest Pacific typhoon season. |
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APRIL 2000: CHRIS TIPPER (one of the
original boat builders) JOINS JASON on
Tarawa to pedal the 1,100 miles to the Solomon Islands. Jason
is looking forward to company again after the isolation of the
previous voyage. |
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JULY 2000: WITH THE SOLOMON ISLANDS EMBROILED
in a worsening state of civil unrest, Jason and Chris eventually
manage to land on the central island of Tulagi, a safe-haven
from the fighting between the Malawian Eagle Force (MEF) and
Guadalcanal militia. |
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JULY 2000: APRIL MANAGES TO FLY IN
and Chris fly out on the only airplane (operated by Air Nuiguini)
that uses a temporary lull in the fighting around the airport
to land and take off again. |
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JULY-AUG 2000: JASON AND APRIL DEPART
from Tulagi to pedal the remaining 1,100 miles to Australia.
After 32 days of constant battling against the SE trades and
NW flowing current they are still 130 miles north of their intended
landfall of Cairns. With April in desperate need of medical
help and the boat just a few miles from being shipwrecked on
the Great Barrier Reef they call on Kenny Brown (the expedition
cameraman) for assistance. |
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AUG 2000: KENNY ARRIVES JUST IN TIME
with a hired support craft to tow the boat off the reef to the
safety of Lizard Island. April is flown to a hospital in Cairns
while Jason and Moksha make it the last 60 miles north to Port
Douglas. |
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SEPT -MAY 2000: JASON FUNDRAISES FOR AUSTRALIAN LEG
in the Cairns/Port Douglas area. Moksha is put on display in
a local shopping centre to attract potential buyers of expedition
t-shirts and names on the boat. Jason also starts planning a
100-day mountain bike trek through the heart of the Australian
outback, from Cairns, Queensland via an antipodal point west
of Alice Springs to Darwin in Northern Territory. |
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JULY 2001: JASON ATTEMPTS TO KAYAK the
gap of 30 nautical miles to the mainland from where Moksha
was towed through the Great Barrier Reef. After only 13 miles
the rudder snaps off and the kayak starts sinking. Cameraman
Todd Paulsen rescues Jason in his own kayak. |
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JULY-OCT 2001: JASON IS JOINED BY AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM
of teenagers and professional educators to ride 3,000 miles
through the Australian Outback. As well as riding 100kms per
day the students, under teachers supervision, develop daily
lesson activities in maths, science, geography, history, IT
and Sustainable Development that are uplinked to the expedition
website for classrooms to utilize. 88 days later they arrive
in Darwin. |
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OCT 2001-MARCH 2005: FACED WITH OVER $45,000
from the Pacific and Australian legs Jason works regular jobs
for over three years to pull the expedition out of bankruptcy. |
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APRIL 2005: JASON RETURNS TO SETTLE THE SCORE
with the Coral Sea, kayaking from Lizard Island to mainland
Australia to keep the human powered circumnavigation thread
unbroken. Upon landing on the Queensland coast, approximately
100-miles north of Cooktown, his kayak is attacked by a 17-foot
saltwater crocodile. |
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MAY 2005: California native Lourdes
Arango joins Jason to pedal Moksha 450 nautical miles across
the Arafura Sea from Darwin to Dili on the island of East Timor. |
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JUNE - NOV 2005: Lourdes and Jason
are joined by April and Chris Tipper for a 6-month, 3,000 nautical
mile island hopping adventure by kayak and bicycle up the Indonesian
chain of islands to Singapore. Jason is attacked by bandits
north of Palembang on the island of Sumatra. |
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MAY - NOV 2006: following more fundraising
Jason bikes northwards through Malaysia into Thailand. Melissa
Mak, an Outward Bound instructor from Singapore, joins in Bangkok
to ride through Laos as far as southern China. Jason then continues
alone up onto the Tibetan Plateau to avoid Myanmar. After crossing
the Himalayas into Nepal and southwards through India he arrives
in Mumbai, 10,000kms later. |
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FEB 2007: AFTER PREPARING
PEDAL BOAT MOKSHA, which has been shipped independently
from Singapore, Jason and old friend Sher Dhillon, an Indian
national, depart Mumbai and pedal 2,000 miles across the Arabian
Sea to Djibouti in NE Africa in 46 days. |
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MAR - JULY 2007: THE AFRICAN
LEG BEGINS FROM DJIBOUTI. Jason will ride solo through
Ethiopia to Sudan, paddle a canoe or kayak across Lake Nasser
to Egypt, then continue northwards by bike through Jordan, Syria
to Istanbul in Turkey. |
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JULY - OCT 2007: ALL THINGS
BEING EQUAL Jason will reach Oostend in Belgium by
the second week of October, before the European winter sets
in. |
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OCT 2007: THE COMPLETION:
Moksha will be waiting in Oostend ready to pedal cross
The Channel and up the River Thames to finish crossing the Prime
Meridian at the Royal Observatory where the circumnavigation
started over 13 years ago. Total distance - 40,000+ miles. |
