{{Short description|English touring cyclist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Use British English|date=December 2017}}

'''Ian Hibell''' (6 January 1934<ref name="birth">England & Wales Birth Register Index, Ian H Hibell; Jan/Feb/Mar 1934; Mothers Maiden Name: Reddington Samuels; Registration district: Epsom; Volume: 2a; Page: 37</ref> &ndash; 23 August 2008) was an English touring cyclist who spent nearly 40 years bicycling in various parts of the world, accomplishing many firsts in cycling.

== Early life and education == Hibell, who was born in the Epsom district in Surrey,<ref name="birth" /> lived in Brixham, Devon, England and attended Torquay Boys' Grammar School. From 1971 through 1973 he became the first to cycle from Cape Horn to Alaska.

== Career == Hibell co-authored a book entitled ''Into the Remote Places'' (with Clinton Trowbridge)<ref name="Clinton Trowbridge Author Page">{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Clinton-Trowbridge/e/B00LROY37Y|title = Clinton Trowbridge| website=Amazon }}</ref> documenting his travels.<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4673693.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311235450/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4673693.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 March 2009 |title=Ian Hibell, cyclist who pedalled world, killed by hit-and-run driver |work=Times Online |accessdate=2008-09-04 | location=London | first=Simon | last=de Bruxelles | date=2008-09-05}}</ref> He lectured on his travels in Great Britain and the United States, including at Yale University. He also designed some of his own gear, including front and rear luggage racks.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/05/greece |title=Legendary global cyclist dies in Greek road crash |work=The Guardian |accessdate=2008-09-04 | location=London | first=Steven | last=Morris | date=2008-09-05}}</ref>

Ian Hibell began cycle-touring when not all his family could afford to travel to a seaside holiday by train. He and his father cycled there, sleeping on park benches and anywhere else they could find.<ref name="ReferenceA">Wheels of Fortune, BBC Radio 4, 1988</ref> He worked at Standard Telephones and Cables and took leave to go cycling, eventually riding more than he was working. He went on to ride the equivalent of ten times round the equator, covering 6,000 miles a year. He is recognised as first to cycle the Darién Gap in Panama and from south to north of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/Hibell_watersandice.pdf |title=Water, Sand & Ice |work=Adventure Cyclist Magazine |accessdate=2008-11-28 |archive-date=6 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206145414/https://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/Hibell_watersandice.pdf |url-status=dead }}/</ref> He also rode from Norway to the Cape of Good Hope and from Bangkok to Vladivostok.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/obituary/displayStory.cfm?story_id=12202333 | newspaper=The Economist | title=Ian Hibell | date=2008-09-11}}</ref>

A van drove over his arm and hand in China in 2006. He came close to losing his life after losing his bicycle while riding across the Sahara.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> He recounted how he was saved by wandering Arabs, who could see his bicycle even though he couldn't, and that all he had with which to reward them was a tube of sun cream, "which I didn't think they would particularly need."{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

His favourite bike had a Freddie Grubb frame of Reynolds 531 tubing, reinforced for extra weight. In his book, "Into the Remote Places" (1984), he called his bike a companion, crutch and friend. "The quiet hum of the wheels, the creak of strap against load, the clink of something in the pannier", was "delicious".{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

== Death == Hibell was killed on 23 August 2008 in Greece by a hit and run driver on the Athens-Salonika Highway near Nea Erithrea.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cycle-touring-legend-ian-hibell-killed-in-greece-18340 |title=Cycle touring legend Ian Hibell killed in Greece |work=BikeRadar |accessdate=2008-09-04 |archive-date=6 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906232104/http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cycle-touring-legend-ian-hibell-killed-in-greece-18340 |url-status=dead }}/</ref>

==References== <references/>

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Category:1934 births Category:2008 deaths Category:English male cyclists Category:British male cyclists Category:Male touring cyclists Category:Touring cyclists Category:Cycling road incident deaths Category:Ultra-distance cyclists Category:Cycling writers Category:Road incident deaths in Greece Category:People from Brixham Category:People from Epsom Category:People educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School Category:20th-century English sportsmen