James Benson-King

Adventure Cyclist

My name is James Benson-King or for my recent trip 'The Biking Viking'. For the past 5 years I had been planning the journey of a lifetime to cycle on my own from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Argentina. All to raise money for a charity called 'Cardiac Risk in the Young'.

I suffered from a heart problem as a child, which was fortunately operated successfully as a teenager, but unfortunately lost a friend at university to one as well. That is how I found out about this charity and have been looking to raise money and awareness ever since that point.

I recently completed the challenge in 556 days and cycled over 31,500km/19,700miles. I've cycled through mountains, deserts and cloud forests. I've cycled through incredible winds, heats and snowstorms. I've even cycled with one leg for 900km! I've also encountered the true human spirit being shown the ultimate kindness by complete strangers who have let me into their house and homes, provided food and water at the most needed times or even sometimes just provided human contact when it was truly needed.

My ultimate goal is to spread awareness for Cardiac Risk in the Young which aim to screen children and prevent problems from becoming life threatening. I am also hoping that through guest appearances I can raise more money for them whilst also promoting my own social media profile.