After ten months and 18,263 miles,

we miss cycling together!

We cycled round the world on a tandem bike…

Raz, 55, and Cat, 54, rode into the history books when they cycled around the world on a tandem bike earlier this year. 

Raz explains:

Not long after Cat and I met four years ago, she told me she would love to cycle around the world. I thought that sounded exciting, so we decided to ride a tandem and try to beat the world record for circumnavigating the globe, previously held by two men. The resulting adventure was the best thing I’ve ever done. 

The hours were long and sometimes we faced challenging situations. In New Zealand, cars drove past dangerously close and in Croatia, one even hit Cat. In India, people swarmed around us, fascinated by the novelty. Alone, these moments might have felt overwhelming but together, I never felt scared. 

We cycled through thunderstorms, torrential rain, brutal headwinds, fog and hail. We watched lightning electrify the sky and rode in temperatures so hot it felt like an inescapable sauna. We crossed five continents and 25 countries. We managed to get around the world without falling off, but lost count of punctures and tyre explosions. 

We suffered from saddle sores and sometimes when we had a day off, it felt like we were still riding. But every morning, we looked forward to cycling. 

We saw poppies and wind turbines in France, rode beside the Italian Rivera and cycled the cobbled streets of Kavala. We were chased by dogs in Greece and passed elephants in Myanmar. We ate waffles in America and noodles in Asia. We passed ancient walls, colourful pagodas and skyscrapers. We watched the sun rise over fishing boats in Yangon and set over crashing waves in New Zealand. 

When we first heard about Coronavirus, it felt remote, but as we made our way through France, we grew increasingly concerned about lockdown measures and decided to change our route to avoid Bordeaux. When we arrived in Rochefort in early March, all restaurants were closed and restrictions were imposed on travel. It became a race against time to get home. We managed to board the penultimate ferry to Portsmouth before all passenger ferries were cancelled.

We arrived home to a world we did not recognise. We had to cancel our homecoming party and five days later, the country went into total lockdown. It was an anticlimactic ending but it was a strange time for everyone.  

Our hope was to raise £18,000, a pound per mile, for our chosen charities, the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Oxfam. To our amazement, we raised over £40,000 and beat the previous world record by 17 and a half days.

Throughout the months we spent cycling, we were often hungry, thirsty, exhausted and grumpy, but we laughed every day. We miss riding together and the sense of freedom on the open road, so we are busy planning our next adventure.