For most of us any bicycle ride means a quick nip to the shops for some milk and a packet of Rich Tea, maybe for the most adventurous a trip to work and back. For Devon adventurer Edward Genochio it meant a ride of over 26,000 miles through 25 countries taking two-and-a-half years.  | | View towards Kyrgyzstan - bandit country |
That's the equivalent of 1,000 marathons and is slightly more than the circumference of the Earth. Ed left his home in Exeter in March 2004 to travel to Shanghai and back and sent back numerous reports to the BBC Devon Website, including some videos. Along the way he had his bicycle stolen by a Mongolian horseman, battled motorcycle-mounted Siberian muggers, was arrested six times and had his death prematurely announced on his own website. Mr Genochio, a writer and freelance website designer originally from Royston, Herts, made a principled decision to stop flying seven years ago but was determined not to give up travelling. "It's been an incredible journey. The solo cyclist's lot can be a lonely, boring one, but every time I found my sprits flagging I would meet someone or see something that reminded me why I set off in the first place," said Ed. "I feel truly privileged to have passed through so many of the in-between places which don't have international airports, train stations or even bus stops. "Not everyone has the time to ride a bicycle to China but I hope my journey at least proves that cycling can be a reasonable way of getting about town, if not about the planet."  | | Edward in Batang |
The theft of his bicycle in Mongolia led to national fame, partly down to the bizarre manner in which it happened. It occurred in August 2004 on the outward leg of his journey, when he was camped near the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, with his bike padlocked to his tent. While he was asleep a modern day Genghis Khan attached his horse to the bicycle and galloped off, ripping the tent in half. Although Mongolian police later retrieved the bike, Ed's faithful steed had been dragged behind the horse over rocky ground and was definitely too ill to carry on. Fortunately, after his plight attracted international media attention, he was sent a new tent and bicycle. "The most dramatic parts of the trip were when people tried to do me in," said Ed. "The things that stick in my memory, though, are the thousand small acts of kindness by complete strangers."  | | The highest point on the road to Devon |
His return journey via Central Asia took him across a 5,050m-high mountain pass - nearly four times as high as Ben Nevis - in the desolate Tibetan Plateau, where temperatures plunged as low as -20C. He then descended to one of the lowest and hottest places on Earth, the Turpan
Depression in the Taklamakan Desert in western China, more than 100m below sea level and a scorching 45C. Oddly, he had only one puncture on the journey out to China, but suffered an average of one a week on the way home. Along the way he raised money for local charities in the places he passed through. Ed now plans to spend his time writing a book about his travels, provisionally entitled 'But Isn't There A Bus?', the question a young boy he met in Ukraine asked him when trying to work out what he was doing. | 
