Ultra-endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont has just returned home after another long bike ride. He has just spent 268 days pedaling 13,080 miles, cycling the entire length of the American continent from Anchorage in Alaska to Ushuaia in Argentina.

As if this wasn’t impressive enough, he also stopped along the way to climb the Americas two highest peaks, Mt McKinley in Alaska and Aconcagua in Argentina.

Mark’s expedition to cycle the Americas was his second epic solo-cycle challenge. In 2008, he broke the Guinness World Record for cycling solo around the world. This first journey of over 18,000 miles took him, from Paris to Paris, across four continents and through 20 countries cycling at a speed of 100 miles a day for more than half a year.

Almost exactly two years after reaching Paris, Mark completed his second epic journey, finally reaching the most southerly city in the world on 18 February. After a month’s rest, in which he will be working with his physio to ‘train-down’ after nine months of cycling, Mark will be setting out in March to talk about his two epic cycle trips in his lecture tour The Man who Cycled the World.

Always a keen cyclist, Mark’s thirst for adventure began at an early age. Aged 12 years old, he cycled across Scotland to raise money for charity. Four years later he broke his first record when he became the youngest person to complete the British End-to-End solo, aged just 15. As he continued with his education, his ambition to cycle the world began to take hold and after graduating from Glasgow University in 2005, he began a two year project to plan his mammoth cycling adventure.

After breaking the Guinness World Record in 2008, cycling the length of the American continent seemed a natural progression.  A step up in difficulty, with the added dimension of climbing two huge mountains, Mark faced many challenges along the road.

From grizzly bears in the Yukon, to the relentless winds in Patagonia, it was never going to be an easy ride.  But, despite a nasty bout of illness and a few essential bike repairs along the way, he managed to complete the trip, with the world following via his Cycling the Americas blog.

Mark filmed both of his expeditions for BBC1 documentaries, being joined by a BBC cameraman for a few days only on both trips. Completely alone for most of the trip, he carried all his equipment on his bike.  With his tent, sleeping bag, repair kit, first aid, satellite phone, cameras and laptop, his bike – a custom built signature model from Koga Miyata – weighed about 30-40kg when fully loaded.

Mark explains why he enjoys his solo-cycle expeditions:

“When you travel alone by bike you are given a unique welcome almost everywhere, and it also allows you to see the world in every detail. As a film-maker, it’s a wonderfully simple way to meet people of different cultures and allows very real relationships to develop.”

Mark’s lecture tour begins in Durham on 16 March and runs through until mid May. For more information, please visit www.speakersfromtheedge.com.

Tune in tomorrow for an interview with Mark.