Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.
Human-powered transport is the transport of person(s) and/or goods using human muscle power. Unlike animal-powered transport, human-powered transport has existed since time immemorial in the form of walking, running and swimming. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human-power.
Although motorization has increased speed and load capacity, many forms of human-powered transport remain popular for reasons of cost, convenience, leisure, physical exercise, and environmentalism. Human-powered transport is sometimes the only type available, especially in underdeveloped or inaccessible regions.
Erden Eruç (Turkish pronunciation: [eɾˈden eˈɾutʃ] (listen); born 14 July 1961) is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United States. The journey had started from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with canoes for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe. Guinness World Records has officially recognized Eruç for the "First solo circumnavigation of the globe using human power" on a journey that lasted 5 years 11 days 12 hours and 22 minutes.Eruç's human-powered circumnavigation plan was expanded to include summitting the tallest mountains on six continents as a tribute to his friend and fellow adventurer Göran Kropp who died in 2002 while climbing with Eruç in Vantage, Washington. Eruç named his expedition the Six Summits Project. So far he has summitted three of the peaks including Denali (also known as Mount McKinley) in North America on 29 May 2003 more than four years before he began his solo circumnavigation, then Mount Kosciuszko in Australia on 10 April 2010, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa on 14 June 2011 during the circumnavigation.By the end of his circumnavigation, Eruç had set several ocean rowing world records including the first person to row three oceans, the first rower to cross the Indian Ocean from Australia to mainland Africa (in two segments), the longest distance rowed across the Indian Ocean, and the longest distance rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.