Cyclist completes 23,000km Melbourne-Melbourne ride

A cyclist has returned home after he completed a six-month journey around the world by bicycle that started and ended in different places - both called Melbourne.

Rob Goliah, 36, from Nottingham, set off on his challenge of cycling from Melbourne in Derbyshire to Melbourne in Australia last summer.

He covered 14,291 miles (23,000km) and visited 22 countries along the route, which took from 29 June to 26 December to complete.

The ride was inspired by Goliah's background in Australian rules football and his determination to make it Down Under after the Covid-19 pandemic and a subsequent car crash ended his playing ambitions.

The challenge raised money for the mental health charity Mind and cancer support charity Look Good Feel Better.

"I used to play Australian rules football for Nottingham, England and Great Britain, and I was supposed to go to Australia for the International Cup in 2020 but it was cancelled because of Covid," Goliah said after he had returned home.

"I also had a big car crash in South Africa, so I couldn't really run like I did before or carry on playing the sport.

"The crash and not being able to play anymore hit me quite hard. I'd always promised to my friends that I was going to Australia to play Aussie Rules and catch up with them.

"I thought I'm going to have to come a different way and I'll cycle across!"

Goliah had initially turned to cycling to rebuild his fitness after the crash, but then decided to take on the epic challenge and planned the expedition in nine months.

He began the journey with friends Chris Wignell and Jimmy Rice who travelled in a campervan, before he continued alone for long stretches and met different support crews along the route.

Friends joined him for sections along the route, while he completed the ride on a road bike with his equipment carried separately.

Their efforts raised more than £5,700 via a JustGiving page.

Goliah added: "There's different ways people do it on a bike, but I wanted to do it in six months, so I did it on a road bike and had support carrying the bags.

"One of my favourite parts of travel is embracing local culture. Some of the places that you stop in at night you've never heard of and will likely never visit again were so enjoyable.

"On the flip side, sometimes you can have 100km between towns and get yourself caught in the middle of nowhere.

"I went over the handlebars in Kazakhstan and I'm pretty sure I broke my nose so I couldn't breathe out of it - in a sandy desert that ended up being quite dry on the throat."

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