UK to Beijing by Bicycle listings

Chris Smith demonstrates with the help of some breathtaking photography just what it is possible to achieve with a healthy body and a well-made bicycle. His lungs and legs powered him into headwinds, across deserts and up to mountain passes (and a wonderfully indomitable, reliable and adaptable source of power they proved to be).

How does it feel to trade domestic comfort and security for life as a nomad and to pare ones life down to the bare necessities? What is it like to push at the frontiers of ones physical and mental endurance? What is the effect upon the human spirit of struggling against hurricanes in the Gobi Desert by day and shivering alone in culverts at night? How does the agnostic westerner react to the religious fatalism of Islam and Hinduism in encounters with locals?

As well as attempting to answer these questions, Chris speaks about the importance of having a dream, about connecting with ones passions, about recognising and seizing opportunities and about how he wore out three sets of tyres, three chains, two sets of gears, two pairs of boots, and fell off the bike six times.

For more details of journey, book and author, visit www.cycleuktochina.com