A small group of cyclists has completed a mammoth ride from Stoke-on-Trent to Singapore, covering 22,000 miles of very varied terrain and cultures, largin’ it with the locals along the way.

The route, image from Scott Zentack’s website

And why? Well it seems just for the sheer hell of it: The three Brits, a Texan and a Canadian were entirely unsponsored, self-funded and had no support vehicles to back them up. The original idea came from Andy Ganner, from Stoke-on-Trent, who said the reason he chose Singapore as the destination was that, as the southern most point in continental Asia, it’s is the furthest you can cycle from England without taking a ferry or flight. The group was put together after Andy posted a message on the Lonely Planet notice board and got 80 serious replies, none of the (quite clearly barking mad) riders met each other until the day before they set of from Stoke.

The chosen route took them across Europe, Siberia, Mongolia (and the freezing, road-less Gobi desert), China, then via Hong Kong they crossed Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and finally reached Singapore on March 28th this year, having left Stoke-on-Trent on June 1st 2001.

The five celebrate on reaching their final destination

Four of the cyclists have their own websites and all give their own take on the trip, with their own emphases and anecdotes. As you’d expect from a ride of that magnitude there’s plenty of experiences and stories to be related, with run-ins with the police and border-guards, dodgy hotels,
overwhelming hospitality and interest from locals and just about every road condition imaginable. Scott recalls a short conversation with a 12-year-old Russian whose entire English vocabulary consisted
of what he learned from American Rap songs:

“Hello, I am Scott from Texas.”
“Sh*t bitch. You are a Mother F*cker.”
“Nice to meet you”
“What is up my neee-gar”
“Um, I must go now. I’ll see you later.”
“You my dog.”

There’s also a bit of the expected toilet humour, from China, where one of the number managed to debunk the ‘built like a brick sh*thouse’ myth when, suffering from an upset stomach, he actually managed to destroy a brick privvy by the sheer force of his rectal expulsions…

For more of the same, or plenty completely different, take a look at their websites.

Andy Ganner, British.

Toby Wilson, British.


Rory James, British.


Scott Zentack, Texas, USA.