'I slept in the bush every night in Australia' - 66-year-old completes third world circumnavigation by bicycle

A 66-year-old British adventurer has completed his third trip around the world by bicycle, and his 11th including motorcycling. 

Nick Sanders MBE rode over 19,000 miles (30,000km), heading east from Amsterdam, and spending nine months on the road since last September. He completed the trip on an e-bike, and is currently waiting for Guinness World Records to ratify his attempt as the first global circumnavigation ever by electric bicycle.

"The journey itself was not as hard as going around the world on an ordinary bicycle," Sanders told Cycling Weekly, "and I know that because I've done it in 1981 and 1985.

"The point of doing it [this time] wasn't to prove that I can bicycle around the world. I know I can, and there's no great deal about that. It's more to do with the fact that I can go on an electric bicycle, which is the kind of vehicle that I think is usable by all sorts of ordinary cyclists. I think it's the perfect vehicle to bring non cyclists into cycling."

Plotting his route, Sanders followed the earth's vector line across Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and North America. He initially rode 100 miles a day, but as he got fitter and slimmer – “I lost nine kilos in weight," he said – he increased the distance to up to 186 miles. 

One of the hardest sections, Sanders recalled, was travelling through the Middle East. "I didn't have batteries for the Middle East crossing," he said. A cancelled flight to Tel Aviv, following the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October, meant the adventurer missed a power shipment for his bike. 

"I rode across Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Dubai without any batteries at all. It was hard work, the bike was heavy, and it was 48°C, but I did it."

Over the nine months, Sanders generally chose to stay in hotels and guesthouses, but kept his mind open to other accommodation options. "In Saudi Arabia, quite often, I would camp," he said, "and in Australia, I slept in a bush every night." 

The adventurer, a former semi-pro cyclist, currently holds the world record for riding around the coast of Great Britain, which he did in 22 days in 1984. In recent years, though, his exploring has mainly been by motorbike, circumnavigating the world eight times, and travelling the length of the Americas. 

What drew him back to cycling in his mid-sixties? "Bicycling is my first love. It always has been and always will be," Sanders explained. "Physiologically, when I'm on a bicycle, I feel good about myself. It makes me feel good. Motorbiking does too, but it takes a lot longer. 

"I think my age is playing a very positive role at the moment. I quite fancy myself as being the Ranulph Fiennes of the two-wheeled world," he laughed. "Who knows? I'll have to keep going for another 20 years."