London2London Update: Sarah Completes Stage 1

British adventurer Sarah Outen arrived in Tokyo a few days back, successfully bringing to a close the first stage of her London2London expedition. This leg of the journey was 11,000 miles in length and lasted for 227 days, but puts her only halfway to her goal.

As you probably recall, Sarah is attempting to make a completely human powered circumnavigation of the planet. She got underway in April, setting out from London, and paddled her way down the Thames River and across the English Channel. After that, she climbed aboard her bike and started pedaling east, passing through 12 different countries before arriving at her temporary stopping point. Along the way, she  has had to deal with bad weather, trucks that wouldn't share the road, dehydration in the Gobi Desert, and choppy seas on her paddle from Russia to Japan.

For now, Sarah will enjoy some down time in Japan as she rests and prepares for the next major stage of the expedition. In the spring of 2012 she'll start a 4300 mile solo crossing of the North Pacific, which will begin in Choshi, Japan and end in Vancouver, Canada. If she is successful, she'll become just the third person to make that journey.

After that, Sarah will return to the bike and ride from Vancouver to New York City, where she'll return to the water once again, and row the North Atlantic. If all goes according to schedule, she'll return to where she started – London – in late 2013.

Congrats to Sarah on reaching the end of this incredibly long first leg. Now take a break and getting ready for the next adventure.

London2London Update: Sarah Reaches Japan

Sarah Outen has reached a major milestone on her attempt to circumnavigate the globe under her own power. You may recall that Sarah set out in April on her round-the-world adventure, by paddling down the River Thames and across the English Channel. From there, she climbed on her bike and has spent months peddling across Europe and Asia. Now, she's made it to Japan, where she plans to take a break before attempting to row across the North Pacific in the spring.

Sarah, and her companion Justine Curgeven, were not allowed to paddle out of Russia, but were instead put aboard a boat that would take them out to sea where they could drop into their kayaks for the crossing to Japan. Once that happened however, the ladies actually paddled back to the Russian coast, where they tagged Sarah's last waypoint, before turning towards their eventual destination. This added an additional  24 miles to the trip, but ensured that Sarah stayed true to her goals to cover all the miles under her own power.

Now, she's safely in Japan where she'll travel some parts of the country by bike, before taking a much deserved rest. In the spring, she intends to climb aboard her row boat (Sarah once rowed across the Indian Ocean) and row across the Northern Pacific to Vancouver, where she'll once again take to the bike and begin a long ride across the U.S. and Canada, before the rows across the Atlantic, and back up the Thames, to end the expedition where it started, back in London.

Congrats to Sarah for closing off this leg of her journey and good luck in the spring. Hopefully for now, she's enjoying a warm bed, good food, and plenty of rest.