Ashland motorcyclist earns Guinness World Record after global journey
Clip | 4m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
Bridget McCutchen becomes youngest person to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle.
After 14 months and 50,000 miles, Bridget McCutchen from Ashland earned the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle. The northern Wisconsin native traversed 45 countries, developing newfound confidence — and inspiring more women to ride — along the way.
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Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...
Ashland motorcyclist earns Guinness World Record after global journey
Clip | 4m 44sVideo has Closed Captions
After 14 months and 50,000 miles, Bridget McCutchen from Ashland earned the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle. The northern Wisconsin native traversed 45 countries, developing newfound confidence — and inspiring more women to ride — along the way.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Bridget McCutcheon: I grew up on a farm in northern Wisconsin.
I like to joke I was raised in a field by cows and a dog.
Part of it's a joke and part of it is reality.
- Angela Fitzgerald: In August 2022, Bridget McCutchen set out from Ashland... - Jeff McCutchen: Goodbye, Bridget!
- Angela: ...attempting to set a world record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the world on a motorcycle.
[bright guitar music] - Bridget: I mean, it's a beautiful world, and I wanna go see it.
That's a big part of it, is just wanting to go see the world.
- Angela: Bridget took with her an abundance of curiosity and ambition.
- Bridget: Riding a motorcycle, to me, is the best thing in the world.
And it gives you a sense of freedom and independence.
- Angela: Fourteen months later, [motorcycle revving] with her newfound freedom and independence, Bridget throttled back into the town where the journey began.
[people applauding and cheering] - And we're so happy you're here to celebrate Bridget's return.
- Oh, my goodness!
Okay, well, I'm alive, I'm fine.
I'm excited to rest, and honestly, eat food that is very familiar.
- Angela: At the starting line, no one could have predicted the outcome.
Least of all Bridget, who rewatched the interview she recorded just prior to leaving.
- I think it's going to start out with completing the trip and getting the record, and I would not be surprised by the end of it if it is completely different, because I guarantee you, I will not be the same person when I come back, and my values would have changed.
So, that's gonna change.
[chuckling] Wow!
[upbeat electronic music] - Angela: After logging about 50,000 miles and traversing 45 countries, Bridget did come back a changed person.
- Bridget: The riding for long hours gave me a lot of time to think.
I think I've become a lot calmer.
I think a lot of things don't bother me the same way they used to.
I am in the desert.
This is the desert I am in.
I feel way more certain of myself than I did previously, and I think that's a big, big deal.
So I've stopped for the night, and this is my camp spot.
- Angela: That's not to say she wasn't uncertain or frightened during the trip.
- There were times when I was scared.
I think fear is very healthy.
It tells you when your situations are dangerous.
- Angela: When asked the driving factor that got her through it all... [Bridget grunting] - Bridget: Stubbornness, mostly.
[laughing] I think that was a huge part of it, is once I get ahold of something, I'm a hold of it and it's not going anywhere.
So, I think just holding onto that idea really kept me going.
[laughing] - Angela: The gravity of her accomplishment is still setting in.
I just thought about that.
Um...
Pretty cool.
Y'know, I'm very happy I'm going home, but I'm gonna miss this.
I am going to miss this a whole bunch!
And that I did that was pretty awesome.
I am in Nepal!
For the rest of the winter, sort of be figuring out what I'm doing next.
And, y'know, sort of getting things done.
I wanna go back to working on boats and, like, doing other stuff like that.
I'm not exactly sure, but I have some things in mind.
No big adventures planned yet.
- Angela: Driven to succeed on an adventure that took her to all corners of the world.
- I am in the forest in Germany.
And I really want to inspire other young women like myself to ride motorcycles.
- Angela: Mission accomplished, Bridget!
With an inspiring story that landed her in the Guinness Book of World Records.
[motorcycle engine roaring]
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Wisconsin Life is a local public television program presented by PBS Wisconsin
Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by the Wooden Nickel Fund, Mary and Lowell Peterson, A.C.V. and Mary Elston Family, Obrodovich Family Foundation, Stanley J. Cottrill Fund, Alliant Energy, UW...