Ian Hibell

Ian Hibell (circa January–March 1934England & Wales Birth Register Index, Ian H Hibell; Jan/Feb/Mar 1934; Mothers Maiden Name: Reddington Samuels; Registration district: Epsom; Volume: 2a; Page: 37] –23 August 2008) was a cyclist who spent the better part of 40 years of his life bicycling in various parts of the world, accomplishing many firsts in cycling.

Hibell, who was born in the Epsom district in Surrey, lived in Brixham, Devon, England. From 1971 through 1973 he became the first to cycle from Cape Horn to Alaska.cite web
url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1052392/Briton-cycled-world-40-years-killed-hit-run-Greece.html
title=Briton who cycled around the world for 40 years killed in hit-and-run in Greece
work=The Daily Mail
accessdate=2008-09-04] Hibell co-authored a book entitled "Into the Remote Places" documenting his travels.cite web
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4673693.ece
title=Ian Hibell, cyclist who pedalled world, killed by hit-and-run driver
work=Times Online
accessdate=2008-09-04] He lectured on his travels in Great Britain and the United States, including Yale University. He also designed some of his own gear, including front and rear luggage racks. [cite web
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/05/greece
title=Legendary global cyclist dies in Greek road crash
work=The Guardian
accessdate=2008-09-04]

Hibell was killed on 23 August 2008 in Greece by a hit and run driver on the Athens-Salonika highway near Nea Erithrea. [cite web
url=http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cycle-touring-legend-ian-hibell-killed-in-greece-18340
title=Cycle touring legend Ian Hibell killed in Greece
work=BikeRadar
accessdate=2008-09-04/]

Ian Hibell began cycle-touring when not all his family could afford to travel to a seaside holiday by train. He and his father cycled there, sleeping on park benches and anywhere else they could find. [Wheels of Fortune, BBC Radio 4, 1988] . He worked at Standard Telephones and Cables and took leave to go cycling, eventually riding more than he was working. He went on to ride the equivalent of ten times round the equator, covering 6,000 miles a year. He is recognised as first to cycle the Darién Gap in Panama and from north to south of the Americas. He also rode from Norway to the Cape of Good Hope and from Bangkok to Vladivostok. [http://www.economist.com/obituary/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12202333]

He came close to losing his life after losing his bicycle while riding across the Sahara [Wheels of Fortune, BBC Radio 4, 1988] . He recounted how he was saved by wandering Arabs, who could see his bicycle even though he couldn't, and that all he had with which to reward them was a tube of sun cream, "which I didn't think they would particularly need."

His favourite bike had a Freddie Grubb/Frederick Grubb frame of Reynolds 531 tubing, reinforced for extra weight. In his book, "Into the Remote Places" (1984), he called his bike a companion, crutch and friend. "The quiet hum of the wheels, the creak of strap against load, the clink of something in the pannier", was "delicious".

A van drove over his arm and hand in China in 2006. In August 2008, he was riding between Salonika and Athens near Nea Erithrea when he was struck and killed by a car that appeared to be racing another.

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