Food poisoning from a Calcutta airport snack, a collision with a wombat in Australia and an attempted mugging in Iran couldn’t stop Londoner James Bowthorpe from becoming the fastest bicyclist to circle the globe – and from raising thousands of dollars for charity while he did it.
Bowthorpe, 32, finished his 18,000-mile bike ride across 20 countries in 176 days (less than six months), beating the world record by 20 days. He set out March 29, and arrived in London’s Hyde Park Sept. 19. Average distance cycled per day: more than 100 miles.
Bowthorpe set out on his grueling trip after watching his grandfather suffer with Parkinson’s disease. He began by volunteering at a South London clinic at Kings College London.
“The clinic has got by on a shoestring budget for several years and the doctors that lead the research are working constantly at funding the next five years of work,” he told Stop Reading This and Ride A Bike in an interview. “I decided I wanted to help – my contribution was taking on the hardest challenge I could find.”
His goal is to raise £1.8 million (about $2.9 million), and so far he’s raised £55,000 (about $90,000).
Thousands followed Bowthorpe on Twitter – and he even got a boost from Lance Armstrong, bikeradar.com reported.
Armstrong Tweeted Aug. 19: “Twitterati, check out Globecycle. James is riding around the world (yes, the planet Earth) to raise funds to fight Parkinson’s. Noble man.”
Indeed.
Photo courtesy GlobeCycle via Flickr.
