...no, not Phileas Fogg, but Mr Mark Beaumont.
Mark is one of those ultra distance cyclists. He was the former round the world record holder (unassisted), he cycled the length of the American continent(s).....
.....and is the world record holder for Cairo to Cape Town.
Mark is a fellow Scotsman and, after I met him a couple of years ago, struck me as a thoroughly nice bloke.
Anyway, he left Paris 49 days ago, cycled through Eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia a bit of China, across 'stralia and is currently heading towards the north tip of New Zealand where he will catch a flight to Alaska and head down through Canada and then cross the US of A.
The rules are simple. Two crossing points in the north and southern hemisphere and 18,000 miles minimum. That's around 240 miles a day.
No drafting.
If any on our American cousins come across Mark on their scooter travels, give him a toot of the horn and some encouragement.
Live tracker & other info
http://www.artemisworldcycle.com/live-update/