Last month McKenzie Barney peddled her bike into Colombia, the last Country in her Cycle the World project that started years before. In total McKenzie cycled 18,000 miles, through 28 countries and 5 continents, and most of it was solo. Her travels would take her through Africa, South America, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and South East Asia.
McKenzie is the first person I’ve spoken to who has cycled the world and it made me wonder, “is there a set of rules that constitutes Cycling the World?” And thanks to Guinness World Records, there is:
Guinness World Records has a set of rules which define what constitutes an around the world cycle. These include:
- Cycling at least 18,000 miles in a given direction i.e. east or west.
- Crossing every line of longitude around the world and two antipodal points (opposite points of the globe).
- Travelling a total distance – including flights and boats – of at least as much as 24,900 miles, the earth’s circumference at the equator.
The history of Cycling the World started with Englishman Thomas Stevens who was the first person to Cycle the World in 1854. He rode a Penny-Farthing, also know as a large wheeled Ordinary at the time, and it took him 2 years to complete.
McKenzies history started as a thru hiker and film maker. She has hiked all over the US, India, New Zealand, Nepal, India, and Chile. You can watch her film, Comfort Theory, about her New Zealand thru-hike on Amazon. In 2019 she traded in her hiking boots for a bike and set out to see the world by a different modality, but still human powered.
That story is the topic for todays episode.
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