Tegan Phillips - Adventure Cyclist and Cartoonist. Currently preparing for a second attempt at being the fastest woman to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town. - a podcast by Sarah Williams

Tegan in her own words: 

“Once upon a time… I was studying to be a lawyer. 

Then I drew some comics in a competition to win a bicycle, which I rode across Spain, telling the story of my adventure through a comic blog. 

This kind of adventure storytelling was too fun to not wildly pursue, so I spent the next few years finding ways to go on more adventures (which included an 11,000km bike trip through Africa with my family, and a 10 Iron Man triathlon around New Zealand), while figuring out how to turn it into a real job. 

Today, I work full-time as a cartoonist, speaker and endurance cyclist. I am currently working on a book, setting up a comic merchandise shop in South Africa and training to try again to set a women’s record of the fastest cycle from Cairo to Cape Town in Oct 2022 February 2024.” 

The challenge: Cycling Africa: Cairo to Cape Town. 1 continent, 8 countries, 10,800 kilometres, and 58,000 elevation, setting a women's world record that needs to exist.

 

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Show notes

• Who is Tegan
• Her love of going on big adventures on her bike
• Growing up in South Africa
• Spending a lot of time outside
• Living in Cape Town
• Going on a family cycle adventure 
• Cycle touring
• Being inspired by Tom Allen 
• Her first solo trip in Spain 
• Getting lost, falling off the bike and figuring it out
• Feeling completely free
• Transitioning into the adventure life
• Her love of adventure
• Professional Adventurer?
• Problem solving while on the road
• Cartooning and why it’s more like writing 
• Making decisions after university 
• Trying to figure out what to do next
• Feeling a lot of pressure
• Reflecting back on her earlier work
• Being encouraged to follow her passions
• Heading off to New Zealand to do 10 Iron Man 
• Trying to figure out how to make money
• Adventure Grants
• Altum Consulting 
• Training plans and joining a triathlon club
• The planning and preparation 
• First blind woman attempting to climb Mt. Everest - Shawn Cheshire 
• What does success look like on an adventure?
• Anticipating unexpected challenges
• Where the idea came from to cycle from Cairo to Cape Town
• Finding out that there was no women’s record for the Cairo to Cape Town cycle 
• 2019 - applying for the Guinness World Record to find out what the rules were
• Planning and researching for the challenge 
• Wanting to start in October 2022
• Needing to go through the civil war in Ethiopia 
• Working with a cycling coach for the past few years
• Figuring out the funding and the support team
• Being delayed in Egypt and needing to wait 6 weeks
• Feeling ill and needing medical help 
• Having a seizure and ending up in hospital 
• Processing everything that’s happened
• Trying to figure out what was wrong
• Having her dream fall apart in front of her eyes
• Getting back to cycling and training
• Hormonal problems?
• Looking after herself and prioritising her mental health 
• The therapy of talking
• Plans for 2023 
• Heading to France do to an Alt Tour of the Women’s Tour de France
• Staying with Katherine Bertine 
• The Women’s Tour - UK 
• Tour de France Femmes
• Funding for adventures and making a living
• Working with Komoot
• Turning 30 and how her mindset is changing
• Having less fear and coming-out the other side
• How to connect with Tegan
• Final words of advice 

 

Social Media

Website: teganphillips.com 

Instagram: @teganphillipscomics 

 

 

Further episodes of Tough Girl Podcast

Further podcasts by Sarah Williams

Website of Sarah Williams