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Paul McNamara

When English photographer Sean Gallagher has decided he is keen on something, there is no going back.
Intrigued by China as a child, when his father would return home from business trips armed with “trinkets and photos”, Gallagher duly relocated to the country at 26.
Spending countless hours on his bike during Covid, he grew into a “cycling addict”.
It made sense to 46-year-old Gallagher, then, that he should mark the 20th anniversary of his move by embarking on a ride that celebrated his “long, deep connection with China”.
Which was how, along with friend Ben Schuessler, who has also been on the mainland for 20 years, Gallagher recently came to establish the fastest known time for pedalling the length of the Great Wall of China.
The pair survived sandstorms, freezing rain, perilous roads and extreme fatigue to complete their journey in nine days, around 48 hours after they had unwittingly gatecrashed a wedding reception atop a mountain pass.


“A group of riders five years ago took 10 days to do it,” Gallagher said. “We thought, ‘maybe, working together, we can shave a bit off that.’
“It was also about more than cycling, we wanted to showcase the diversity of China, so more people are inspired to explore the country.
“Photography has provided me with opportunities to help people understand China ... and I want to get the word out that there’s a strong cycling community here.”
Although the Great Wall spans more than 21,000km, the straight-line, west-to-east route, from Jiayuguan in Gansu Province to Laolongtou covers 2,458km.
Originally targeting an eight-day finish, Gallagher said: “We were already riding around 300km a week, so pretty fit, but neither of us knew if we could do eight or nine successive days of 250-to-300km, with lots of climbing.
“The physical and mental fatigue builds every day, so there was some uncertainty. We were going into the unknown.”
Gallagher narrowed his focus to cycling when the pandemic put paid to triathlon events.
“We were still allowed into the mountains, as long as we didn’t leave the city area, so I started doing more cycling for my mental health,” he said.
“Four years ago, I founded a cycling club [Beijing West Cycling]. There were two or three of us, now we have more than 600. Last year, some of us managed a 1,000km ride in 48 hours. Cycling, long-distance cycling, especially, has become an addiction.”
From England’s Ribble Valley in Lancashire, Gallagher began the Great Wall challenge in “determined but realistic” mood.
“You have to believe you’ll complete it, but you have to be prepared for the fact you might fail,” he said. “Lots can go wrong: medical breakdowns, accidents or extreme weather.”
German Schuessler, 42, punctured in Inner Mongolia. “It was just grasslands as far as the eye could see, we were completely on our own,” Gallagher said. “But you have to think clearly to resolve the problem, and believe you’ll get out of that difficulty.”

A daily video diary produced by Gallagher showed fast-moving trucks overtaking hair-raisingly close to the pair.
“One day in Gansu Province, about half an hour after we’d experienced a sandstorm, it started to rain as we were going over a mountain pass,” Gallagher said. “We had all these trucks going past within a metre or two, as we were getting soaked going downhill.
“Some of those moments were scary. We had to dodge potholes, too, so safety was always a priority.”
While the cheerier truck drivers would “peep and wave”, and one “stopped and tried to give us food”, Gallagher and Schuessler were especially grateful for the generosity of strangers on the seventh day of their journey.
On course to achieve their eight-day goal, they encountered sharply deteriorating conditions as they climbed a mountain pass near the city of Zhangjiakou, close to Beijing.
“There was a gale-force wind coming down from Mongolia, the rain was getting heavier, and the temperatures dropped,” Gallagher said.
“We arrived in a small village and sought shelter in a restaurant, where a wedding reception was happening.
“We were these two bedraggled, wet, tired foreigners, and all the guests looked at us like we were aliens who’d stepped off a spaceship.”
The restaurant owners provided food and drink, and a room to dry clothes and warm up.
“They saved us in the middle of the storm, and all the lovely people who helped us were among the highlights of the trip,” Gallagher said.
The pair decided to wait for conditions to ease before continuing their ride the following day.
“We had to be pragmatic, and making the right decisions helped us reach the end,” Gallagher said.

“The farther we got into the journey, the more we were determined to push through any mental and or physical difficulties. The idea of giving up became an impossibility.”
The two men’s shared ability to “not get too high, nor too low” prevented any fallouts, and, “hobbling like two old men” after nearly 83 hours in the saddle, they “hugged, shook hands and tried to take in what we’d done”.
“It was a feeling of utter joy,” Gallagher said. “We reflected on what we’d achieved, but also what we’d experienced.”
Waking up at home with his wife and children back in Beijing the next day, Gallagher was “completely relieved”.
“It was surreal being back in normal life, and felt like it had been a dream,” he said. “When you remember it did happen, there’s an overwhelming sense of pride. Now we’re talking about what’s next.”


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China

Sean Gallagher and Ben Schuessler embarked on journey to celebrate 20th anniversary of living in China and ‘deep connection’ with country


Sean Gallagher and Ben Schuessler embarked on journey to celebrate 20th anniversary of living in China and ‘deep connection’ with country.


Conquering the Great Wall in record time a labour of love for expat cycling duo

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sean Gallagher and Ben Schuessler embarked on journey to celebrate 20th anniversary of living in China and ‘deep connection’ with country

Sean Gallagher and Ben Schuessler embarked on journey to celebrate 20th anniversary of living in China and ‘deep connection’ with country