Depending on how things develop along the way, I'll be cycling through these countries (in this order): United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, United Kingdom.

How long will it take?

About two and a half years (give or take a few months).

How do you cross water?

Sail power. I'm enlisting the assistance of Kind yacht clubs in England, Singapore/Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Ireland. When possible, I'll try sail-powered fishing vessels in places like Indonesia and Malaysia.

How many kilometres will you do a day?

Depending on the route, the roads, the weather, the food I'm fuelled on and how I'm feeling, I would expect to cover around 100km (62 miles) a day.
I'm approaching the cycle ride like a job. I'll be on the road about five or six days a week with time off to spend in places I want to look around while I (and my legs) take a break. Of course, if I'm in a place I like I'll stay for a bit longer, if not then I might just keep going.

What are you doing for visas?

If I apply for all my visas before I leave the UK, most of them would've expired by the time I reach the country I'd got a visa for. Instead, I'll be getting visas when I need them, which will mostly be in the country before I need it – it also works out cheaper that way (most of the time).

How much will it cost?

I've reckoned on US$20 a day to cover most eventualities. I do think US$20/day is on the high side, but it's just in case I have to buy something other than the food and accommodation that most of the budget is set aside for. Obviously, costs will be high for travel through Europe, Australasia and North America, but on the flip side, costs are expected to be lower in Asia.

What sort of bike are you riding?

It's a Marin 'Bear Valley' mountain bike funded by BP Energy and sourced from Penny Sports Cycles (check out the Partners page). I have a Tubus cro-moly Cargo rack on the rear and Thorn MKIII lo loaders on the front and SKS mudguards front and back. The panniers are Ortlieb Roller Classics bought from Outsider Mountain Sports in New Zealand.
XT rear derailleur, Deore front. Chainring: 43, 32 and 27 teeth, rear 9 speed cassette: 32, 28, 24, 21, 18, 17, 14, 13 and 12. For the techincally minded, that's a gear range of 21.04 to 89.37 inches, or in other words, on my easiest gear I would travel 1.75 metres on one complete pedal stroke and 7.43 metres on the hardest gear.

How heavy is all your stuff?

As light as I can make it – and it's never light enough! After 6 months of riding and refining I hoisted the fully-loaded bike on to a scale in India and was surprised to see it weigh in at a monster 49 kilograms! That's the bike, the bags with everything in them (including a few days of emergency food) and a few litres of water.

What are you taking?

A full list will be posted in the future (the further I travel, the more refined the set-up becomes).

I'm including all the brand names because when you're researching trips it's handy to know what other people are using and what they think works well. But, if any manufacturers listed here would like an official endorsement then feel free to contact me…

Camping: the unsurpassed Brunton Optimus Nova multi-fuel expedition stove, Macpac Celeste two-person 3-season tent, 2-piece set Evernew titanium pots, Macpac Neve sleeping bag, Thermarest ultralite long sleeping mattress, plastic cutlery, matches, Petzl Zoom head torch, . I'm NOT taking plates and a mug, the pots are just the right size and shape.

Clothes: Basically, just something to wear now and something to wear later (plus deodorant and soap!).

Tools: Topeak Alien mini-tool (thanks to the cuzzies Gary and Jason Anderson), Victorinox Champ (swiss army knife).

My thanks for the FAQ go out to many people, especially to:

Judy Atkinson, Katherine Beech.
Once again, if you've got to the bottom of this page and you still have an unanswered question, send me an email and I'll try to answer it as best I can.