Rawles will visit environmental projects on the way and talk about the environment with passers-by as she goes.

The bamboo bike she built herself, with the Bamboo Bicycle Company, is part of that narrative. The bamboo itself was grown in the Eden Project in Cornwall and the joints are made from hemp soaked in ‘Super Sap’, a European Eco-resin – she believes it’s the UK’s first home grown bicycle. Although she’s used to riding road bikes, Woody is a mountain bike – new territory.

“I think it’s going to be a great bike for this trip because it is very comfortable and it’s a huge people magnet, everyone wants to come and find out about this crazy bike and why I’m on it. So that’s really positive, given my trip is all about communication.”

She’s also quietly changing perceptions about what people assume women can do.

“Often people do a bit of a double take – ‘oh you built [your bike?’ – that’s been very empowering”

“Often people do a bit of a double take – ‘oh you built it?’ – they don’t assume I actually did most of it myself, and that’s been very empowering.”

It’s also helped improve her skillset.

“I’ve got basic bike mechanic skills but I’m not brilliant at it, so to be able to learn how to build a bike myself from scratch means I can probably figure out, from first principals, how to fix it if things go wrong, and that’s a great feeling.”

The Adventure Syndicate is all about opening up more possibilities for women in terms of what they can achieve on bikes, and that’s important for Rawles, too.

“I think people like the fact, I’m doing this journey, much of it on my own as a woman, on a bike I built myself, and doing it not just for myself but I’m actually standing up for other species and the biodiversity and trying to do something about our impact on the environment, and actually people appreciate that.”

“I think the dominant narrative about what women are is changing,” she says. “We’re realising more and more that women can do amazing stuff, and we want to be doing amazing stuff. The whole story about women and our roles and what we’re capable of and who we are is changing for the better, and I think it’s great to be part of that.”

Perhaps Rawles is also helping change our perception of what’s possible into our 50s and beyond. She admits losing her fitness is her biggest fear.

“I became very unfit last winter and it was actually quite shocking how long it took to get it back. I’m 53 now, so there does come a point where it does start to get harder to get your fitness back and I thought: ‘I have to watch this’.”

“The aging stuff is quite difficult to get your head around. Frankly it hasn’t made much of a difference yet. I’m slightly slower than I used to be, but I’ve always been slow so that’s not a great big deal really, and I still enjoy riding my bike in the mountains, and touch wood I still am able to do that. And that’s amazing, isn’t it?”

As she inspires other women, she recalls attending a mountaineering club’s 50^th anniversary celebration as a student, which still inspires her today.

“There were loads of people in their 70’s still climbing mountains, and that was quite inspiring, you realise if you keep going, and you don’t stop exercising and being outdoors; as long as you’re not unfortunate and get ill or injured, there’s no reason you can’t still be in the mountains in your 70s and 80s.”

Kate will start cycling in late January/early February and will be blogging as she goes. You can follow Kate’s progress on her SPOT tracker. Her previous book, the Carbon Cycle; Crossing the Great Divide has just been published as a second edition.