PARIS, France (Reuters) — The journey ended where it began – at Paris’ Arc de Triomphe.
British endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest circumnavigation, finishing a day and a half shy of his goal of 80 days, arriving in Paris on Monday (September 18).
Beaumont set himself the challenge of cycling around 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers) across the planet.
His trip saw him heading east across Europe through Poland, Russia, Mongolia and China before hopping onto a plane and cycling from Perth to Brisbane across the deserts of Australia and cycling again through New Zealand before crossing North America from Alaska to eastern Canada and finally starting again from Lisbon and cycling back to Paris.
Waking up at 3:30 am, Beaumont cycled for 18 hours over 240-mile distances a day, and sustained himself on a 9,000-calories-per-day diet.
A bike crash in Russia on the ninth day that broke his tooth and injured his elbow nearly ended his feat, Beaumont told reporters, but he soldiered on, buoyed not only by his support team but also fans who showed up along his route or followed him online.
He made the same attempt in 2008, cycling around the world in 194 days. This year, the Scotsman beat the record held by New Zealander Andrew Nicholson, who in 2015 managed the feat in 123 days.
He said the past 78 days took him to a “mental depth” he had never experienced.
He was welcomed at the finish line by his mother Una, who is also his manager, and his wife Nicci and their two daughters, Harriet and Willa.
