Countdown to the big day...

RTW Bike is on order, deposit paid :-)

Click here to see the beast!

Mike Hall wins World Bike Race in 92 days

Mike Hall has won the world bike race and broken the Guinness World Record in an awesome ride of just under 92 days

Click here for more

Getting closer to buying the RTW bike

It's looking like my RTW bike could be a Bacchetta recumbent with Rohloff 14-speed hub, supplied by Bikefix in London.  More here

Will I have to wear a helmet?

There are a few, very few fortunately, misguided countries in this world which no doubt think they are making cycling safer by forcing their citizens to wear plastic hats of no proven safety benefit when they ride their bikes.  This helpful entry on wikipedia shows that I am planning to ride through five such countries: Australia, NZ, Canada, USA and Spain.  I guess I will have to buy one as I arrive in Darwin, and bin it as I cross the Pyrenees back into France.

I found the wikipedia link in this useful Sydney Herald article which does a good job to explain the futility of compulsory helmet laws.

Evidence for views expressed here

and they're off! world bike race

World bike racers set off in all directions from Greenwich on 18th February, a diverse range of bikes and blokes, first to ride 18,000 miles and get back to Greenwich is the winner... and possibly the new record holder... new page here

Route plan updated today, main change is to avoid a flight (probably from Shanghai to Bangkok) which would have been necessary to avoid cycling south-westerly between Changde (China) and Bangkok (Thailand) - which is against the Guinness rules - now I have abandoned the record attempt I can cycle wherever I like, yahey!