Man Rides Bike Around the World in 195 Days

Circumnavigating the globe is a great challenge, but doing it on a bicycle in 195 days is an incredible feat.

Riding in the Artemis World Cycle Challenge, Mark Beaumont rode through 20 countries, including the U.S., Thailand, Pakistan, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, in only 7 months.

In addition to shattering the previous bike-around-the-world record of 276 days, he also beat his personal goal of 210 days. As soon as Guinness verifies the trip, he’ll have a world record.

Beaumont kept a web diary in order to chronicle all of the hardships and excitement along the way. It’s an extremely interesting read. Beaumont, a vegetarian, talks about how he had to eat meat sometimes to keep his calories up, how hard it was to find healthy food options in the U.S. and Australia, and what it’s like to ride a bike in Istanbul (”terrifying”).

He said yesterday that he could have gone faster if it hadn’t been for the junk food he had had to eat in Australia and the US. “There were no healthy options – and it had a massive effect on my mental focus and body strength.

Unfortunately, the worst 24 hours of his trip was in the U.S. He was hit by a car, mugged in his hotel room, and found drivers to have a remarkable amount of road rage…

“The whole coastal front is busy and unfortunately bicycles are not well looked upon. Regular angry horns are blown and abusive comments shouted from cars. Mark caught up with one such car at the traffic lights, and said he had a right to be on the road and with full luggage on board couldn’t be on a cycle path – unfortunately can’t print the reply he got – shocking and very inhospitable.”

Mark’s encounters with road rage in the U.S. shouldn’t surprise anyone. If you’re a cyclist, you’ve probably been victim to a nasty case of it yourself. Some drivers don’t seem to realize that bicycles have every right to be on the road.

The Artemis World Cycle Challenge raised money for several deserving charities and earned Beaumont a world record, but I think it’s the cultural lessons that are the most important. For example, we need to stop eating so much junk food and be nicer to people on bikes.

Have you ever experienced road rage as a cyclist?

Check out our cycling gear guide, bike fit guide or bike anatomy guide to get outfitted for your own adventure.