News about Britain

What's the furthest you have ever cycled? Perhaps you cycle to school or to work, or maybe at most a short cycling trip with friends? How would you feel about spending months on the road travelling solo from the UK to China, by bike?

For British cyclist Pete Jones, camping rough and cycling long distances through inhospitable terrain are second nature. Mr Jones is currently undertaking a mammoth trip across the Eurasian continent from Britain to China.

Pete Jones is no stranger to China. But he says many people there are puzzled by his passion for cycling, asking why he would choose to cycle when he can afford a car. Indeed, while there are an estimated 400 million bicycles in China, where it has long been the preferred form of transport, rapid economic growth has fuelled an explosive expansion in car ownership.

Edward Genochio, another British cyclist who completed a 41,000km trip to China and back, said one of his aims was to "promote cycling as a safe, sustainable and environmentally benign means of getting about".

In the UK, the last few years have seen a rise in the number of people choosing two wheels over four, with some estimates saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last five years.

Politicians also see cycling as a way to boost their eco-credentials, with people such as London mayor Boris Johnson often riding to work under his own steam. But we may have to wait some time before we see him emulating Pete Jones in attempting to cycle all the way to China!

Vocabulary

trip
  a short journey (usually going to a place and then coming back)

solo
  on his own, without anyone else

camping rough
  spending nights in a tent in difficult conditions

inhospitable terrain
  ground/a piece of land that is difficult to cross

second nature
  integral part of his character

mammoth
  very long and very difficult

puzzled
  slightly surprised/baffled

rapid economic growth
  when the production and consumption of goods and services becomes larger very quickly

fuelled
  become the reason for

explosive expansion
  extremely quick growth

car ownership
  here, the number of people who have cars

sustainable
  that causes little or no damage to the environment (and so can continue for a long time)

environmentally benign
  causing little or no damage to nature/the environment

boost their eco-credentials
  show people that they care about the environment

under his own steam
  if you do something under your own steam, you do it without help

emulating
  copying (someone else's achievements)