Profeet Interview Liz Dodd about her round the world cycle

Liz Dodd: I leave to cycle around the world on 1 May 2017. I’ll be on my own for the first three months, cycling and wild camping my way through Europe along the Rhine and then the Danube as far as the Black Sea. From August, I’ll be joined by my best mate Miranda, and we’ll ride together from Istanbul, through Turkey into Georgia, Armenia, Iran. After that we head to India: we’ll cycle the width of the country into Darjeeling, then cross into Myanmar, and follow the coast through South East Asia into Vietnam. From there we fly to Seattle, then ride down through North, Central and South America.

Liz Dodd: All in, it’s about 45,000km or 28,000 miles. We’re hoping it’ll take 18 months, but want to allow ourselves time to explore.

Liz Dodd: I came to Profeet because I was experiencing knee pain. I had a bikefit that identified some – lop-sidedness – that the fitter said could be corrected with the right kind of insole.

I had a fantastic experience at Profeet: it was immediately reassuring that Emma, my fitter, identified the same problems my physio had done. It gave me huge confidence. And that she was an extreme sportswoman herself and knew something about endurance! I was amazed by how comfortable the insoles were – they looked very substantial and quite solid, but they felt like pillows.

This is useful for touring: I ride in MTB shoes because they’re also comfortable to walk in, and on a long tour there’s no point using up weight and space carrying separate walking and riding shoes. Emma understood this, and used running insoles, which are great to walk in and can be slipped into a new pair of shoes when my old ones inevitably give up!

Liz Dodd: They have! I still have to keep on top of general stiffness in that leg with stretching and foam rolling, but I’ve had no pain at all and very reduced stiffness since the fitting.

The effect on my knee pain was immediate – I emailed Emma to say this the very next day! I stopped experiencing pain and the stiffness I was feeling also reduced dramatically, and continues to reduce as I do the stretches and exercises Emma and my physio recommended. But the real test was a 300km, mountainous ride I recently completed in Bosnia as a dry run for the big trip. I pushed myself and my knee on the many climbs and apart from the general fatigue I’d expect I felt great.