Round-the-World Cyclist Nearing Goal

You may recall that I posted here last September about Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont, who was departing Paris in the first stage of an attempted 18,000 mile solo trip around the world.

Beaumont has been making steady progress since that time, traversing through 20 countries already in Middle East, Asia, Australia/New Zealand and North America. Now nearing completion of the sixth leg of his tour, Beaumont is crossing the southwestern and southern United States. Recently Mark has ridden through Louisiana, Missississippi and after hitting 17,000 miles, just entered Florida this past Sunday, Jan. 27th.

As you might imagine, there's been excitement in spots. Last week in Louisiana, Beaumont got clunked by an elderly lady in a big sedan at an intersection, and while waiting for a bike shop to get him going again, inadvertently bunked himself down in a seedy motel where he got set upon by crackheads.

Now on the road again in Florida, Beaumont will ride the length of the state down to St. Augustine, before flying to Lisbon, Portugal to complete the final leg back to Paris, with a target return date in mid-late February.

You can follow Beaumont's journey on his website here, where route information, photographs, and diary entries are posted daily.

Mark Beaumont's website

Image: www.artemisworldcycle.co.uk