the hardest adventure of my life

In this latest episode, Laura takes on a once-in-a-lifetime cycling adventure following the Tour de France Femmes. What begins as a spontaneous decision to ride across France quickly unfolds into a journey of resilience, freedom, and rediscovery. Along the way, she navigates group challenges, grueling days on the bike, and moments of awe in the French Alps. Through the lens of elite women’s cycling, Laura reflects on her own struggles with fear, instability, and self-belief, finding parallels between their courage and her own. This is not just a story about sport, but about daring to step into the unknown and uncovering the strength to keep going.

battled with some audio & video quality blips on this one but hopefully the story carries it through!! going to mic myself up and stick to autoexposure for the next one lol :))

Links
Bikes insured with LAKA, code LDS for 30 days free – https://laka.co/gb
Electrolytes, creatine and apparel from Puresport – code LDS for 10% off and a free water bottle (automatically added at checkout) – https://puresport.co/LDS
All my music is from Musicbed, get a 2 week free trial https://fm.pxf.io/laura-freetrial
LAURA20 for 20% of Strava Premium – https://www.strava.com/subscribe/checkout?code=LAURA20
LAURADOESSPORT for 15% off Stubble & Co backpacks – https://www.stubbleandco.com/
Discount on Insta360 Ace Pro 2 action camera – https://www.insta360.com/sal/ace-pro-2?utm_term=INRJ31I

My instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lauradoessports/
My Strava – https://strava.app.link/LauraKirkpatrick

Musicbed SyncID MB01FVH3ZKMTB22 & MB0108QEIHBSVWK

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:35 Trailer
1:33 Packing list for 2 weeks
2:50 London to Calais reflections
3:35 Arriving in Calais, meeting Micha
4:35 Train to Vannes and 135km cycle
6:30 Arriving in Vannes
7:13 Day 1 (80km | 875m elev)
9:30 Watching stage 1
10:28 Day 2 (80km | 560m elev)
11:59 Air bnb out-takes
12:31 Day 3 (170km | 1,250m elev)
12:55 The Tour de France Femmes
13:22 Day 4 (rest day reflections)
15:42 Day 5 (160km | 1,685m elev)
16:40 evening lols
18:28 Day 6 (225km | 3,500m elev)
22:13 Day 7 (260km | 3,200m elev)
24:57 Accommodation from strangers
26:10 Day 8 (train to Annecy)
27:56 Day 9 (110km | 2,180m elev)
30:44 Frames from Chatel

#TourdeFranceFemmes #CyclingAdventure #Bikepacking #WomenInSport #CyclingLife #AdventureCycling #TourdeFrance #FemaleAthletes #CyclingVlog #TravelAndAdventure #ShortFilm #SonyFX30

I found purpose in chasing what others deem to be impossible and leaning into the edges where fear and freedom blur. Because I believe a meaningful life is built on your ability to dare. At the end of it all, life is nothing more than the moments that you lived. The moments you chose to say yes to fear and no to routine. To live fully is to choose a road that no one else can see. To ride into the unknown and go find out for yourself. This is a story about three strangers arrived in Cali just getting the train to non stop and their three bikes cycling for 8 days. What a great day to be alive. I’m so scared for the end of covering 14,000 m of elevation. 225 3,5 and 1,300 km. Misha’s thrown up in the sink this morning. So much agony. I just don’t want to finish in the dark. That was a start line in the morning about midnight. What was midnight? 30 hotel a finish line in the Alps. I’ve left the internet in one hell of an adventure in between. [Music] Good morning, friends. So, I’m about to take on the hardest cycling challenge ever. So, firstly, the bike, the Canyon Aeroid. Wildly unsuitable for bike packing, sexy as hell, and as fast as hell. Bike insurance max out to the limit with lack of HQ. Worldwide coverage. code LDS for 30 days free insurance. Tencing bags, fuel raven can clanken, the saddle bag, the frame bag, the snack bag, and the front bag, which can also be a hip bag and a backpack. The camera gear, two vlogging cameras, one cinema camera, not enough storage, nutrition for salt, pure sport citrus salt electrolytes, 1,000 milligs of sodium, top of the range. Code LDS for 10% off. and a free bottle for sugar. A haribo tank plastic. Still waiting to get a discount code. The outfits, two full cycling kits, one spare jersey. Other sports kit, Free People shorts, pure sport top, sports bras, normal people clothes, a dress, some gapier pants, a vest top, and two bikinis. And I’ve been told that it’s important to clean. Welcome to Cycling Across France. I’m recording. [Music] I’ve always felt alive when I travel. At the beginning, I just turned 19. It was the first summer of university. I’d saved up £1,000 of my student loan and bought an interal pass so that I could backpack around Europe. I was young. I was terrified. My parents told me I wasn’t allowed to go, but I went anyway alone. And to this day, it was the best decision of my life. It sparked something within me, a realization of free will, adoration of strangers, an appreciation for experiences above all else. And so when I was asked by a guy that sent into my DMs if I wanted to cycle across France and follow the tour to France, of course, I said yes. And I then met him for the first time in Cali. You know, so nice to meet you. Let’s get it in a second. It’s worse than a Ryan Air flight. Look at this. 5 hours and 10 minutes. I just got told there’s a snack bag. Misha goes got some hardboiled eggs in I didn’t want to throw them out. I’m like gone for German. I repeat, we’ve lost the sausage. We’re having a bit of a language barrier here. We can switch to German if you want. So, as I sat in the passenger seat of Mika’s car, making a way across the French countryside with very little clue on the actual plan for this trip, it dawned on me that in this moment, I was free. Urban, what’s up, YouTube? Welcome to my channel. It’s not even held on to anything. Good morning. We are just getting the train to Na which is where we start day one or day zero actually. Um we cycle 135k to vons which is where the women’s tour starts. I have so much stuff because I’m basically leaving a bag with someone that’s going to be in a van. But today I have it all with me. I’m basically on a commute, but I’m on 135 kilometer commute with my backpack. 40. It’s like the UK. I guess this trip started with a lot of feeling. I’ve lived from bags, couches, and borrowed spaces since January of this year. And I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to not only produce high quality content, but to produce it rapidly. Probably because the more I work, the less I think about the fact that I don’t have stability. But the more I work, the more I sabotage the very thing that I’m trying to work for. 40,000 people now know my name. I’ve been recognized in cafes and airports and cities across the world, and it feels bizarre. So, I started this trip with a lot of weight, and slowly throughout this adventure, as I begin to lose time to revolutions of the bike, you will watch me unravel. You will watch a weight lift from me that I didn’t even realize was there and you’ll watch one of the best experiences of my life. We have arrived in Vaughn just on our way to Airbnb. It’s very busy. It’s so funny like going from like the quiet countryside of France and then all of a sudden you hit a town it’s like oh my god I’m so overwhelmed, so over stimulated. But I just found out that Jess has made dinner. Bless her. Look who it is. Oh my days. You were like, I’m going to be at 3 and then it was like 4 and then like messages are not going through. Are you alive? Welcome to our house. Oh my god. Lovely. is 1,00 mig of vitamin C, I think 15 of zinc, and a little bit of vitamin D. And it’s good. There’s not that much that’s like preventing you from getting this is doing it. Maybe it is a sleeping couch, but it’s got hydraulics. Love you. [Music] I’m recording, guys. Good morning. It’s Saturday, the 26th of July. I’ve been told to sit down in the shop. I’ve fed breakfast. It’s a hard life, isn’t it? It’s a hard life. Apparently, I kept the whole snoring last night. Oh, kitty. I’m just a girl. I’m just like my grand can. Good morning, friends. It is the official day one of the tour. We’re just on route to Etion to drop our backpacks and then we’re going to start stage one. So, like how far are we going today? 80k. Okay. Light day. I think they do laps about this little section that we’re going to go up to hopefully before the roads close. Jess, how you feeling? LFG. Energy is high, motivation’s high, legs are good. Let’s go. Not much to report. Feeling good, feeling strong, had a coffee and uh I’m very excited to watch the women and like I haven’t watched any sort of like cycling racing in person before. When you’ve got tour to France at 10:00 but business at 11. Yeah. So cool. There’s like so many people like out the tour like set up on the side of the road. Entreprene 100 meters of elevation. Oh, it’s hard when you’re carrying all your stuff, isn’t it? [Music] We’re on the grass. All right, time for some. I guess there’s something about elite sport that can’t help but inspire you. The months, often years of sacrifice for one single goal. The physical pain, the mental battles that no one else can see. There’s a beauty in watching people give everything they have, knowing there’s no guarantee it’ll be enough. And yet, they show up anyway, day after day, mile after mile, because sport is about winning. Yes. But it’s also about resilience, about courage, about writing a story with your body that words will never be able to tell. When you watch it unfold, you can’t help but feel like maybe, just maybe, you’re capable of more than you think, too. And now we need to ride like 20k to bed. I’m tired. But I do have chocolate and a speaker. So lovely weather we’re having. [Music] [Music] Good morning, sports fans. Uh, welcome to day two gearing up for a lovely day in paradise. We are in the town of Joseline. It’s a Sunday, so nothing’s open, but we found a bakery. LFG. I woke up with basically a mushroom on my head for a hairstyle. [Music] Recovery wasn’t great last night. Get my resting heart rate’s gone from like 51 to 64. Get a bunch of carbs and fluids in and hopefully try and sleep tonight to try to get some lunch. Turns out they only do shutery boards and obviously everything is closed because it’s a [ __ ] Sunday [Music] gravel. 300 p.m. Got a whopping 40 km. I won’t lie. Today was the day when we started to have some disagreements as a group. Jess was in favor of being out for longer on the bike and going at a slower pace, whereas Mika preferred to get more sleep, take fewer breaks, and to go faster, which was pretty impossible to do both. And I was honestly more in favor of the latter, knowing that these days were tiny in comparison to what was coming. So day three was the first day that the group split up. Plain pasta tuna beetroot gins. Hi, you absolute madman. And then so Jess like quite rightly leaves the conversation cuz she’s uncomfortable. Misha just goes, “Can I have some salt?” He goes to get the salt. He’s like, “Do you want pepper to Tabasco sauce?” And then when he was having his show, he just comes down with a towel on. He’s like, “Oh, so I packed light. Um, don’t have any shampoo. Can I use your Bye Vlog? Welcome to Fastpacking. Right, so day three. Jess had left the interesting Airbnb a few hours before us, and then Ma and I decided to fly 170 km at 30 km an hour, and this was the actual stage 3 route. So, it was so nice to see all the crowds of this incredible atmosphere and then we watched the finish and I decided to give Instagram a bit of a rundown of the tour itself. Good afternoon, sports fans, and welcome to France FEM. The tour of France Fem. 1,165 km with over 17,000 m of elevation, nine stages, 22 teams, seven riders per team. And just like the men’s race, each competing for four jerseys, yellow the lowest total time, green the highest total points, polka dot for the best climber and white for the best young rider. [Music] My goal for today is to get like 1 kilogram of carbohydrates for my sister and we’re good to go. Good morning, sports fans. It’s day four, [ __ ] It’s day four in the Big Brother house. We’re all feeling good because I’m not riding today. Well, I don’t think so. I feel like I’m like in day four. Day four is today, right? Day four is today. Yeah. You should get like two basics. Then you can throw me anything. I’m going to edit today. Woohoo. Orange. Yeah. So, that’s completely fine. Orange juice and cereal. That’s really good combination. I thought I’d read it. I mean, I just said I had it for the first time in London was great. So funny. Two and a half years ago, I was sat on the sofa of my London flat in the depths of autumn crying harder than I thought it was possible for a human to cry. So, I’m supposed to be getting a lift with Etien. So, I’m just waiting for him to reply. Um, so I think I might go and have a look at the start. I was having dissociative panic attacks. I was hurting myself. I’m actually feeling really good. Like hydration, it’s made a massive difference. Pure Sport electrolytes, which I have a discount code if you want those. Arrow gravel. I was convinced that I was completely worthless. Every day I felt like I was drowning in my own head. And all I wanted was to be able to live like a normal person again. To feel steady, to breathe without fear, to believe that I had a future. And there was a part of me, a really big part of me that truly believed that I would ever make it. And I wish I could go back and hand her this day. Let her see herself here, standing with a camera in front of her, speaking with ease, smiling without thinking, moving through the moment as if it was hers all along, like she belongs. I wish I could sit beside her on the sofa, fool myself into the silence of that room, or lie next to her in the dark when the nights felt endless and cruel, and whisper gently into her fear. You are more worthy than you will ever believe. And one day, you will see it, too. Welcome to McDonald’s cam [Music] because girl there is so much waiting for you on the other side. Morning friends. Welcome to paradise. What day are we on? Five. Day five. It’s day five and the weather’s looking glorious. um plastic bag on the camera today. Why can’t I just have my hair straighteners with me 2 km in? Jess is already lost. Misha’s going to go and do some hill reps. So, here you’re watching the final normal day of this trip before everything started to get a little bit silly. We started with Jess and then decided to split up. It was another day of fast packing. I think we averaged just under 27 km an hour for 170k plus and there was a decent amount of elevation. We again followed the actual stage that the women were going to do and it was pretty uneventful apart from us later in the evening thinking that our Airbnb had been broken into and pubes had been stolen which I didn’t vlog cuz I was so stressed but it was obviously all fine at the end. So yeah, we got to the we had a chill and it was possibly the last chill until the end of the trip. Sorry. No, it’s okay. Like let me get your bike through like the entrance. Yeah, it’s I’m on the all-inclusive. Welcome to paradise. The last prison set. [Music] Go on. I don’t know what to iconic post. I I think it’s pretty universal. I don’t think I didn’t come up with that. OOTD. We’ve got a live hat. My sister’s dress, carrier bag, and no shoes. And no And no shoes. And no underwear. No underwear. It’s just I’m trying to save weight. Just about to get some food. Got some burgers, some wraps. It’s going to be good. Misha was just saying that he’s really questioning the next few days of his existence. Days on the bike. Yeah, I’m quite scared. Laura is too slow. I am. You’re welcome to go. [ __ ] sake. You’re really strong. Was a joke. I’m not as strong as you though. Yeah, but I wouldn’t spend a minute without you on the bike. You wouldn’t stand a minute. Wouldn’t spend a minute without you on the bike. Oh, how cute. I wouldn’t want noise. Oh, yeah. That was not okay. What happened? Why isn’t it okay at all? I don’t even know. Like, we left a little bit late to be fair. Should we come in? Well, it’s just the elevation. It was all three. Then it’s just like I can’t say the sensations are high today. I think I’m not eating enough. Um, taxi service. You’re not what? I’m not counting the final time in my head. That’s a different day. That’s That’s tonight. We deal with that later. Just need a coffee. Okay, next town. I thought it was an actual town cuz like all the other ones like we’re going to find otherwise we ask someone to cook for you. Yeah. Okay. That better not be calm. Just got the notification. Climb 7 of 13. 427 m of elevation. 12ks. 284 m. 7 and 1/2 km. That was very nearly my first tears. [ __ ] cars and the music and like everything was just like over stimulating me. We’ve been going for 5 hours. Like this is just not okay. And the thought that we’ve still got like 5 hours of riding. Oh, and my palm is [ __ ] dead, lads. It ain’t good. It ain’t It ain’t good. And here we see a wild influencer at the side of the road. Burping away. Oh, but I did have a piss and that did help. Literally got one climb to go and I’m just in so much agony. It’s [ __ ] 10 8. So much pain. Another incident. It fell off. Got stuck in the back wheel. I went sideways. [Music] Um Yeah. Oh, I got 6 89 followers. All right, come on. Let’s go. It’s 10:00 at night, guys. Um, still got tank of waters to go. It’s pitch black. We’ve got the iPhone torch. We could have just done. This is the longest 5 km of my life. What the hell? Around 38. Okay. I’m dying. Come on. What time is it? It’s dead. How long have you been on your bikes? 13 hours. Oh, it’s not okay. What happened? Wasn’t okay at all. I don’t even know. Like, we left a little bit late to be fair. Should we come in? Yeah. Let’s stay out. I’m really good right now. There’s a hot pasta. Oh my god. You’re a legend. And there’s eggs and baguettes and so hot. Well, how are your legs feeling? Legs are fine. How are your ass? You know, I’m actually fine. I’m just I’m just a bit tired. One second. Like they’re easy to slam. Really easy to go. Two and just like try to get them in. Good morning, sports fans. I need to think a little bit more about Friday. You just think about me. I always think you we’ve had 6 hours of kind of sleep. No, under 4 hours to be fair. We’re going to go cycle 260ks. Misha’s thrown up in the sink this morning, which is lovely. I just don’t want to finish in the dark. That would be my preference. Like I think like Sam’s done at 9:30ish. Yeah, like being there by then. That’s great. We really are reaching the Alps. First climb of the day. 753 m of ascent. 13.7. So, as much as I’d said in the morning that I didn’t want to finish in the dark on this day, that dream very quickly vanished. Technically, this day was the hardest of the trip. 260 km, 3,200 meters of elevation in what will become a 17-hour day out on the bike. There were moments where I was looking up for public transport. There was a visit to a bike shop to replace my brake pads that was slowing me down massively. 4:00 120. But there was also something about this day that was really incredibly beautiful. As we began to arrive in the Alps, a place which has held me at so many important parts of my life. So traveling at 19 after my first big breakup, my first ever cycling trip abroad 2 years ago, and my first YouTube video after leaving my job was one of the first times in a while that I’ve really felt like Laura and not defined by Laura to sports. And also seeing Ma witness the beauty of this place for the very first time ascending a mountain in the early hours of the morning [Music] 10 or something. Friday the 1st of August 2025 will forever go down in my mind is one of the best days of my life. [Music] Yeah. [Music] But I do come to [Music] Well, um, hello friends. The hotel has bed bugs and everywhere is fully booked because it’s the attack for the fem tomorrow. Give me strength. Got a sandwich. God bless the internet, guys. We may have found ourselves someone who lives in Shambbury 5 minutes away. Hello. Good morning. It’s 2:39. Stage eight. Let’s go. We’re just waiting for a potentially very kind person with a flat in the middle of the street in the [ __ ] rain. Yay. Well, we’re in a lift. She seems lovely. I trust my gut instinct. Hopefully, we stay alive. If not, I live my life how I should have done. 15K. [Music] We stayed in the apartment of a lovely girl last night. I feel like I’ve been hit by an absolute train. I’m going to go get some brunch. I guess in a way I failed at this challenge that we’d set ourselves. Today we were supposed to cycle, but it got to the point where my body just couldn’t. I think in the past it would have pushed beyond that, but I’ve come to have a lot more respect and care for my health in the past few months than I used to. So, we got the train to Anacey, one of my favorite places in the world. Jess found us someone to stay with. And another love letter from the universe arrived. The festival July, fireworks by the lake. I really can’t believe how slowly time is going this year. It feels like I’ve lived 10 different lives in the space of a few months. That’s something I feel like I need to preach to the world that yeah, stability and comfort is nice and you really do need it to look after yourself. But when do you ever really remember the early nights or the overnight oats? And if you’re someone that is scared of wasting their life or feels lost or overwhelmed by so many options, me too. But the only antidote I’ve ever found is just to try new things. It’s not perfect. I have moments of questioning and panic, but I feel wildly in control of this uncontroll. What a great day to be alive. [Music] Good evening friends. Tomorrow we do our final day LFG. [Music] I’m so torn on what to do because I know that I will be so disappointed if I don’t. But at the same time, I’m also like [Music] at the same time like my Bible. Ah, let’s do this [ __ ] What is 107 km anyway? Huh? I’m buff handbag. I found purpose in chasing what others deem to be impossible and leaning into the edges where fear and freedom blur. Because I believe a meaningful life is built on your ability to dare. At the end of it all, life is nothing more than the moments that you lived. [Music] You have to turn in a couple times. Good morning sports fans and welcome to the final day in paradise. Good morning. And so here I found myself somewhere between exhaustion and awe between who I was when I began and who I became along the way. I thought I was chasing a big story about women in cycling about how the recognition still pales beside the men. But it wasn’t just about recognizing the women of the tour. It was also about recognizing myself, about realizing the quiet courage it’s taken me to get to where I am. and finally appreciating how far I’ve come. I only seem to glimpse that truth when I throw myself into experiences. Back to the girl who once traveled with nothing but a backpack, who didn’t need a phone or likes on her posts, just a start line, a finish line, and one hell of an adventure. And maybe that’s the real gift of this trip. The realization that the life I was searching for was never waiting for me on the horizon. But it began the moment that I stood up in the dark, felt the pit in my stomach, and chose to chase a light anyway. And maybe that’s why the the tour began to move me so deeply. Because in a way, their fight mirrors my own. Mine has been a struggle to trust my own strength, to push through fear and doubt when the path felt impossible. And theirs is a struggle against a world that still gives them less, less money, less recognition, less respect. Yet day after day, they show up like I did. Not writing history with comfort or privilege, but carving it into stone with grit, with grace, with unrelenting belief. They remind me and they remind all of us that courage isn’t in waiting for the world to be fair. It’s daring to stand on the start line anyway. And in doing so, changing the world for yourself. [Music] Well, that was fun. Um, now we’re going to go and collapse in a shallow. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] Heat.