JUAN SIN MIEDO: The adventure story of Juan Menéndez Granados
One of the characteristics that best define the extreme athlete, explorer and adventurer Juan Menendez Granados It is nonconformism. He refuses to believe that something is “impossible” just because fear or doubt makes him feel that way, or because someone else says that something cannot be achieved, because for him everything can be achieved, even if “for the moment it has not been done.”
It is not for nothing that they nickname him Juan “fearless” Menéndez, and rather than seeing it as a brake, he instead uses it as fuel to pedal and pedal towards his goal, among so many that he has set himself over the years, during which he has passionately dedicated himself to adventure cycling.
“Being an explorer and adventurer for me means wanting to push your limits, wanting to explore the unknown, wanting to get to know the most extreme places, the most remote cultures, the most interesting people. 'Exploration' in adventure is not so much about what you do but how you do it.” says John.
He has travelled around the world under the premise that courage is stronger than any natural fear we can feel as humans, and that only that will lead the truly brave adventurers to overcome new challenges. And not just the most obvious ones, the ones that cause the least fear... no, venturing into something that motivates you to overcome them to be the best version of ourselves that we can become.
“It's not that I'm not afraid, it's that I'm not afraid to face my fears, and I believe that fear is something innate in our lives, we have potential fear of everything, but we have to face our fears and overcome them,” says the adventurer.
To achieve great things you have to have great dreams, and one by one Juan Menéndez Granados has been achieving them by pedaling all over the world, in the most unimaginable places… unimaginable for anyone but Juan. The Atacama Desert? The South Pole? … and why not, if each expedition has developed in this great adventurer new sensations and new discoveries about himself and about life itself. All of this has been unlocking levels of difficulty in him, and has triggered new goals, and new desire to pedal his way through more and greater challenges.
This is how the idea of reaching the South Pole by bike arose, something that had only remained in words in the world of cycling, but which he wanted to make a reality, alone and without assistance.
“Trying to reach the South Pole by bike was something that had been thought about for a long time, but no one had yet seriously attempted it. I didn’t need much motivation because every pore and every cell in my body wanted to reach the South Pole.
This is how he set out on a bicycle expedition of more than forty days in absolute solitude at temperatures of minus 75 degrees and headwinds of more than 90 km/h.
“And people think that to go on these expeditions you have to be crazy, but that’s not the case… you have to be very level-headed, especially in the worst moments, when you’re alone, you don’t have anyone to tell you ‘come on, relax, get in your sleeping bag and rest, I’ll take care of melting the snow and tomorrow we’ll go out there, don’t worry’.”
The challenge knocked on his door and on his self-esteem, and he felt prepared to not be afraid of the fears that could hold back anyone in his position, infinitely sure that it was something he wanted to do, something he was going to achieve... and so it was.
With a great career behind him, the athlete has set himself the unique challenge of being the first person to cycle to the South Pole (Antarctica).
After four intense years of arduous training, Juan Menéndez Granados embarked on the adventure and managed to reach his goal between December 2013 and January 2014, in an expedition of a total of 46 days of pedaling that involved traveling 1,200 kilometers across the surface of Antarctica. His great feat was captured in the documentary film “Pedaladas Contra el Destino” (Pedals Against Destiny), directed by Pablo Martín.
And this is because, in each and every one of his expeditions, this athlete has brought this persistent and motivating attitude. He has developed his talent, his skill and his thirst for adventure, overcoming real dangers and real moments of fear, overcoming them one by one.
Juan is admired today for his tangible achievements, such as crossing the Australian continent diagonally and crossing Lake Baikal, the Amazon jungles, Greenland, African plains, the Siberian steppes and the Andes mountain ranges... but above all he is admired for his personal achievements, for reaching a peak within himself, controlling his fears and all the mental exhaustion that all this entails, carrying above all an extraordinary courage, and an enviable motivation.
The Asturian athlete is undoubtedly a great specialist in solo and highly difficult bicycle expeditions. At a very early age he was fascinated by geographical knowledge and exploration and at 16 he started in the world of cycling, starting with routes on the Camino de Santiago. Since then, he has fulfilled the dream of exploring and cycling through challenging places on each and every continent of our planet.
He was also awarded the "Voyage of the Year Award: Baikal, alone on the ice" by the Spanish Geographical Society in 2011.
Today, in addition to continuing his career as an extreme athlete, he draws on his expertise and experiences to work in the world of motivational management as a speaker, delivering his message through talks and presentations on how to manage fears in the face of adversity. In addition, he is dedicated to sharing his exploits and achievements with his fans and followers, to inspire them to overcome their fears, have self-confidence, be humble, have an entrepreneurial spirit, and live their lives to the limit.
One of his maxims is: “You don’t have to be a superhero to do extraordinary things.”
JUAN GRANADOS' EXPEDITIONS
- In 2003: Trans-Pyrenees (Europe) from the Mediterranean to the Cantabrian Sea 1,300 kilometres.
- In 2004: Scotland (Europe). 1,100 kilometres and the High Atlas Ascent (Africa). 1,400 kilometres.
- In 2005: Trans-Amazon (South America). 6,485 kilometers
- In 2006: Urals (Europe-Asia). 4,060 kilometers
- In 2008: Scandinavia (Europe) 2,312 kilometers
- Between November 2008 and February 2009: Australia diagonally (Oceania). 5,001 kilometres.
- In 2009: Canadian Arctic (North America). 1,800 kilometers
- In 2010: Lake Baikal (Asia). 730 kilometers.
- In 2011: Tanzania-Kilimanjaro (Africa). 1,000 kilometres (on foot). And the Pamir Massif (Asia). 775 kilometres.
- In 2012: Greenland (Europe)
- In 2013: Greenland (Europe). 600 kilometers And the Baltic Sea - Lake Inari (Europe). 210 kilometers.
- Between December 2013 and January 2014: Amundsen's Spirit Expedition (South Pole). 1,200 kilometres (46 days alone).
- In 2016: Atacama Desert (South America). 1,839 kilometers.
- In 2017: Mongolia (Asia). 2,685 kilometers.
- In 2018: Patagonia (South America). 2,700 kilometers. And Several deserts in the United States (North America). 3.747 kilometers.
- In 2019: Australia (Oceania). 4,805 kilometers.
Juan Menéndez Granados has proven to be an inspiration in sports and personal improvement. From the time he was humble enough to accept that he was afraid, until he overcame it… because that is what being “Juan Sin Miedo” is all about: Being a brave person because he is aware of who he is and what he wants to achieve, without thinking that there is something “impossible” when there is a great dream that we want to achieve.
