ROUND-THE-WORLD CYCLE RECORD ATTEMPT TO RAISE £1.8 MILLION FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE RESEARCH

Ultimate Challenges are delighted to be supporting James Bowthorpe's attempt to cycle 18,000 miles round the globe, in the hope of breaking the recently set world record and raise £1.8 million to support research into Parkinson’s Disease.

James completed one of the first ever charity challenges for Scope back in 1997 from St Petersberg to Moscow, and has been a dedicated rider since.

On this incredible challenge, James will be cycling an average of 120 miles a day and is aiming to break the current record (Mark Beaumont, 2007) by over three weeks. The route starts in London on March 29th and traverses Europe, passing into Asia at Istanbul, crosses Iran, Pakistan and India - where conditions for cycling get a lot harder. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore follow, then the 4000+ miles of Australia and New Zealand. Canada and the USA make up the rest of the mileage from Vancouver to New York before the final straight from Portugal to London.

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) was first described almost 200 years ago, but what’s driving the disease is still unknown. Current routine treatments only target the symptoms; a change in approach is desperately needed. There are over 120,000 people with PD in the UK, with 10,000 being diagnosed every year. For the last two years, James has been a volunteer with the ‘What’s Driving Parkinson’s?’ research team, which is funded through the Psychiatry Research Trust (UK Charity No. 284286) at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London. The research is headed by Doctors John and Sylvia Dobbs who have developed a unique approach to the disease over more than ten years. The next stage of the research will cost £5 million. James’ experience of the work is what has inspired him to take on this massive challenge.

James has cycled long distances before, his first trip taking him to the far north of Canada when he was 18. He has since crossed the Indian Himalayas and biked from Alaska to LA, but the challenge at hand will be several times further and more intense than anything he has done before. James is currently training in and around London, where he lives, and working on the complicated logistics and technology involved. James is 31 and can’t think of anything he’d rather be doing.

For further info visit James' website Globe Cycle

To donate on line visit Just Giving/Globe Cycle

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