Story

9 April UPDATE: We did it!!! After 262 days in the saddle across 20 countries, we crossed the finish line at the top of Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, on 28 March 2015. We featured in newspapers (SCMP), radio (RTHK3) and magazines (TimeOut), and the next step is the post-production of a short documentary that was filmed during our last few days.

In total, we pedalled 17,298 km. We would LOVE to hit our original donations target of £1 per kilometre cycled, so please keep clicking and donating here! Thank you all for your amazing support!

Nick and Laurence

You can read about our expedition at:

www.journey-to-the-east.com

www.facebook.com/journeytotheeast2014

Twitter: @jtteast

23 February UPDATE: We’ve been celebrating Chinese New Year in Chongqing, just 1,600 km or so from our final destination in Hong Kong! It’s hard to imagine that our expedition is in its final weeks.

In January, we crossed the Taklamakan Desert, one of the largest shifting-sand deserts in the world, making what we believe to be the fastest unsupported north–south crossing. We covered 559 km from Luntai to Qiemo in 47 hours and 19 minutes.

Since then, we’ve pedalled across the Tibetan Plateau, through the provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan, and over dozens of passes at altitudes of more than 4,000 metres, enjoying amazing Tibetan hospitality. Although we were now safely on Chinese tarmac, the wind and cold trumped the Pamirs for difficulty and proved a very tough test for us at high altitude.

On 1 February, we reached the expedition’s highest point at the Bayankala Pass, at 4,824 metres. From that freezing spot, we’ve made our way down to Chongqing and are now about to head south through Guizhou, and then directly east towards Guangzhou and Hong Kong, through the villages of Guangdong Province. We loved the plateau, but are both enjoying being back where we can breathe and feel our toes properly!

Thanks, everyone, for the massive support. It really helps us on the bikes. We’ve nearly completed the distance, but we still have some way to go to reach our fundraising target for Prostate Cancer. If you decide to donate, we will be hugely grateful!

We end our odyssey at the top of The Peak in Hong Kong at noon on 28 March. The countdown begins!!