Author
I’m a British management consultant with a degree in Chinese Studies from Cambridge. When I graduated in 2014, I set out with a classmate on an unsupported bicycle expedition from London to Hong Kong, covering 17,000 km over nine months. I was motivated by a desire to explore the world at ground level and to test our physical and mental limits. Powered by the kindness of strangers along the way, we successfully crossed the Pamir Mountains during the winter, endured endless desert crossings and survived temperatures below -35°C. The expedition raised funds for Prostate Cancer UK and was backed by hundreds of individual supporters.
Our journey received attention from the BBC, South China Morning Post and RTHK radio, and a documentary crew captured our final days arriving into Hong Kong. We presented at local schools and gave a talk at the Royal Geographical Society. During the expedition, we set a world record for the fastest unsupported bicycle crossing of the Taklamakan Desert, which was featured on the Channel 4 series, “Our Guy in China”.
This expedition forms the basis of my debut book, Journey to the East, which is built from my detailed personal journals at the time. It’s a story of the challenges we faced and the people we met along the way, many of whom made it their mission to help us however they could, for nothing in return. It’s a story of human kindness and connection, which transcends language, culture or race. And above all, it’s a story of the adventure that life can be, if you only look for it.
I now live in Singapore with my wife, who was among those who donated to the expedition as a friend of a friend - we were married seven years later!
