On 8 September 2025 before 5 am I arrived at Helsinki airport after riding my bicycle 29,101 km in under 130 days. I was awarded the Guinness World Record as the oldest rider to complete this challenge and the first to do it with a disability, although Guinness does not recognise brain injuries as a disability.
When I tell people it was a great holiday I get looks of disbelief. To most people the idea of riding your bicycle an average of 232 km/day—and climbing the equivalent of just under 18 Mount Everests—is not their idea of a holiday. Especially when I add that it was self-supported bikepacking which meant carrying all my own gear and finding food, water and places to stay every day. But the ultra-endurance cycling community get it: we like nothing more than the simplicity of nothing to do but eat, sleep and ride our bicycles.
My time at the World Bank served me well in achieving my objective. We learn that preparation, groundwork, and fundamentals are essential for long-term success of any project, and the same was true for my ride.
The Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China segment was the most challenging in terms of climate, terrain and languages. It was fun to come across a World Bank financed highway project in Kazakhstan where I was able to jump onto the unopened road and escape traffic. Having worked on the China transport program it was rewarding to revisit after 15 years and see incredible progress. I also knew how to handle the many police checks in Xinjiang, and talk my way out of a police station after being apprehended in an area closed to foreigners!
After Asia, the rest was easy. Riding Darwin to north of Sydney was peaceful with little traffic on long desert stretches. It’s amazing how many podcast series one can get through riding 12+ h every day! Home to New Zealand was a quick 4 day visit. Anchorage to Halifax was the longest: 10,513 km. It’s always great to go back to Canada where I grew up. America had its usual set of unique experiences! The final run from Lisbon to Sweden and Helsinki was bliss as Europe is by far the best place to ride in the world.
Things inevitably go wrong and you just roll with the punches. The most inconvenient was when the electronic gears on bicycle failed west of Shanghai. I ended up riding with a single speed from there to Australia where I was able to source a part and change gears again.
More bothersome was falling off my bike in Ohio and landing hard on my wrist. It was painful but I could ride so kept going. At my wife’s insistence after 1500+ km of riding I got an X-ray which confirmed it wasn’t fractured. Yes, ultra endurance cyclists have a different relationship with pain than most people!
In 2018 I got a traumatic brain injury in a crash racing in New Zealand. Post-concussion syndrome ultimately led to early retirement from the Bank. As with any disability, it either masters you or you master it. I contributed to a newspaper series with this philosophy. I’ve found ways of managing the ‘triggers’–such as wearing ear plugs to filter most of the noise. I wear sunglasses, often even indoors, not to look cool like Tom Cruise, but to help with light sensitivity. When I’m riding I often close my eyes for up to 3 seconds to give the brain a break from visual stimulation. When it becomes too much I’ll stop, lay down, cover my eyes, and try to ‘reset’ my brain. Micro naps can be very helpful, but they need to be longer than my usual ones. Sometimes the symptoms last a few hours, other times days
A regular question is “weren’t you afraid—especially in remote areas?” Quite the opposite! Riding a bicycle one interacts with people in the way few tourists do. I had many cars stop in Uzbekistan and hand me drinks; in Kazakhstan a restaurant gave me a bed in the workers quarters one afternoon; in China people paid for my meals in restaurants—and the police gave me a going away gift of food after I was ‘released’ from the station, apologising for the inconvenience (I had to do a major reroute via train). I was invited to stay in people’s homes across the world. Trips like this restore one’s faith in humanity.
I’m grateful to have the time, energy, health and support to do adventures like this. Life isn’t a dress rehearsal and goes by quickly. Best to do what you can while you can because you won’t always be able to!
Read more on my trip here.
* Chris Bennett worked as a senior transport specialist in the East Asia Region. He retired early after receiving a traumatic brain injury in a bicycle crash. He lives an active life since retirement including accomplishing the circumnavigation of the world at the age of 66.
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KEYWORDS Bikepacking, Circumnavigation around the world, Guiness Record, Traumatic brain injury cycling, Ultra-endurance cycling
