Welsh cyclist completes ‘dream’ ride across the world for charity

TV viewers may be glued to the new series of Race Across the World – but one adventurous cyclist has just completed his own remarkable ride across the globe.

Nathan Hurley of Blackwood in Caerphilly county set off on his bicycle from Cardiff on 1 March – St David’s Day – 2024.

More than 14 months, 26 countries and 16,250 miles (26,000km) later, he has arrived in Sydney.

The “exhausting” journey from south Wales to New South Wales is a “dream come true” for Nathan and has so far raised £4,000 for the Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) Trust.

The self-confessed “urban dweller” admitted setting off with a tent, stove and a blow-up pillow was a daunting prospect.

Nor was he a particularly good or keen cyclist having almost fallen off his just 50m (164ft) into the ride leaving his nervous parents looking on with their heads in their hands.

“One of the challenging things is being on your own,” he said from Sydney.

“I’ve been racking up 60 to 80 miles and sometimes up to 10 hours on the saddle each day but it’s taken a lot mentally as well as physically.

“I’m not an outdoorsman and out of all of my friends I’m the guy who doesn’t do adventure well. I always forget something.

“I like my flat whites and eggs benedict so it’s been a real struggle when I’ve been out there camping and cooking.”

The 35-year-old travelled through France, across the Alps and onto the ancient Silk Road from northern Italy to Turkey before crossing the Caucuses where he hit his first diplomatic hurdle.

To avoid conflict and visa restrictions he took a short flight from Armenia to Kazakhstan where he continued to climb the Pamir mountain ranges to China, not only overcoming the challenges of altitude but suspicious local police as he crossed the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.

“I didn’t mind the police following me, they made me feel like a VIP but they weren’t very inconspicuous, they were the only car following 200m behind me at 12mph,” he said.

From there Nathan rode south through South-East Asia to Jakarta, Indonesia and then flew to Australia where he embarked on a 2,500-mile (4,000km) journey from Perth to Sydney.

“Australia is famously wider than the moon and for weeks it really felt like that in the heat,” he said.

“It’s home to wonderful people but it doesn’t help that I’m terrified of snakes.”

While on the road Nathan has been invited to two weddings and shared countless meals with locals curious about the cycling Welshman.

“Spending months speaking to strangers through a translation app can be exhausting [but] you wouldn’t believe how many remote villagers know who Gareth Bale is.”

And he has decided he is not stopping there.

Having taken redundancy from his job as a furniture design manager he now intends to cycle all the way home, ploughing on to New Zealand before flying to Alaska and then Africa with the aim of returning to Cardiff by Christmas.

“I had every intention of coming home after Sydney but I’ve got a bit more time now and I’ve got the bug, which is a bit of a surprise.”

Nathan hopes that his journey can encourage others to take up cycle touring as a mode of travel and form of sustainable tourism.

“I’ve learnt to love it. I just feel I’m on the journey now and I’ve got it into my head I’m halfway home.

“And there’s no point in cycling half way around the world, is there?”