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- Written by: Active Traveller Staff
In 2018, Scottish cyclist Jenny Graham became the first woman ever to ride around the world solo and unsupported. Braving deserts of Australia, dodging bears in Alaska, and surviving terrifying traffic in Russia’s far east, she completed the 29,000km ride in 124 days, 10 hours and 50 minutes—knocking three weeks off the previous (supported) record.
While her time has since been bettered by a supported rider (American Lael Wilcox, in 2024) she remains the fastest female to have completed the challenge without assistance. Graham’s passion for distance cycling developed in the Scottish Highlands, where she first went walking as a kid, and later worked as a leader for the Highland Council’s Outdoor Education Department.
Today, in between running her own events and lecturing, Jenny volunteers with the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team. Despite having literally circumnavigated the globe, she says that when it comes to adventure, there’s no place like home.
Active Traveller: What is it that made you first fall in love with the Highlands?
Jenny Graham: I was born in the Highlands. I grew up in Inverness, but my family were all from the countryside. Early memories are full of burns, tree swings, and clambering through the woods. When I properly discovered the outdoors in my early 20s, it just clicked. I saw the Highlands with fresh eyes, and a deep appreciation I hadn’t fully understood before.
AT: What’s one thing you’ve only come to appreciate after years of exploring them thoroughly?
JG: Just how old and ancient the Highlands are, especially compared to younger, jaggier mountain ranges like the Alps that are still being shaped. Scotland’s wild places have a deep, worn beauty—she’s an old girl who’s been through a lot.
AT: How did you get the bug for endurance cycling?
JG: I always knew I had that diesel engine in me—as a youngster, I was never the first to the top at the start of the day, but I’d still be going at the same pace 12 or 15 hours later. It was a natural transition from long hikes onto the bike once I started hearing about big epics like the Highland Trail 550. Although I wasn’t physically conditioned for massive days on the bike, I had the head for it. I just needed to build the fitness bit by bit.
AT: What was the scariest part of your round the world ride?
JG: The scariest bits are sometimes the best bits—although sometimes not haha! The feeling of being completely alone, day after day, was a double-edged sword. Most of the time it felt wild and freeing, but in other moments that same silence was overwhelming—no one to turn to, no safety net, no one to help make sense of the day, both the good and the bad. Cycling through a herd of bison in the Yukon with only a flickering dynamo light was terrifying at the time, but now it feels like a moment of magic. Really, the scariest parts were often the roads—heavy, fast traffic, especially in Russia, where I felt invisible and utterly vulnerable. Russia was a hard, lonely stretch.
“Cycling through a herd of bison in the Yukon with only a flickering dynamo light was terrifying”
AT: Was there ever a point where you felt like giving up?
JG: Not really, not once I’d started. The lead-up to the start line was when I felt the most unsure, but once I set off, even on the low days, I felt huge gratitude just to be out there. It could feel hard, yes—but it never felt like a hardship.
AT: Where’s your favourite place in the Highlands to ride your bike if the weather’s set to be amazing?
JG: I’d head straight for the west coast with my mountain bike. We’ve got world-class trails all through the northwest, but Fisherfield and Torridon are something special. If I was on the road bike, I’d go a bit further north to Assynt—that place properly sets my soul on fire.
AT: Where would you head to avoid the crowds, on a busy day in summer for example?
JG: Well I can’t tell you that or it would start getting busy!
AT: What’s your favourite Highlands pub? And what are you ordering when you get there?
JG: I have particularly fun memories from the Clachaig inn Glen Coe. And as for what I’m ordering? Pints all round!
AT: What’s the best time of year to visit the Highlands?
JG: I’d say September or October. It’s a magical time. The hills come alive with the change of season, and the roar of stags echoes through the glens. The midges have mostly had their fill by then too, and if you’re here early September (the 6th, to be exact), you can take part in my new event series The Bà. It’s going to involve a Monster Duathlon or a 90-mile sportive, both finishing with a closed-road climb over the legendary Bealach na Bà.
Follow Jenny on Instagram at @jennygrahamis, and order her book “Coffee First, Then The World” from her website jenny-graham.com. Jenny would like to thank Sonder Bikes and Restrap bags for their support.
