Cycle ride from Japan to Godmanstone (From Dorset Echo)

Cycle ride from Japan to Godmanstone

10:20am Saturday 25th October 2008 in

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A MAN who likes a challenge cycled more than 30,000 miles from Japan to his Dorset home.

Peter Gostelow’s route took him across deserts and up mountains as he pedalled his way through 30 countries on the three-year trip.

But it was not until he neared Godmanstone that he had a doubt about where he was going – his family had only just moved there.

Mr Gostelow, 29, said he decided to come back to the UK the hard way when he finished a spell teaching English in Japan.

He said: “I’m a keen cyclist and I had the idea I would set myself a challenge and ride home. I always love being on a bicycle because it exposes you to places and people in a way you wouldn’t otherwise experience.

“I like photography too so I made sure I took plenty of pictures on the way – thousands of them.”

The long journey started with a ferry trip from Japan to South Korea and ended with another ferry – from Calais to Dover.

And once he was back in the UK his trip wasn’t quite over as he visited his sister in London before cycling down to Dorset and looking out for his family’s new address.

He said: “I had a feeling they might have a sign for me so I was looking out for one. My mother calls me Pete and when I saw a sign saying Pete it made me start to cry. Only when I got closer I realised it actually said Fete – it was directions for the village fete.”

But when he found the house – complete with a welcome home banner – there were tears of joy again as his mother Penny, his brother, sister and brother-in-law greeted him.

Mr Gostelow, who has a geography degree, kept a log of his journey and noted he clocked up 30,186 miles in the saddle.

He carried everything with him on the Cannondale mountain bike. He said: “I took spare parts for the bike and carried out repairs along the way. I needed more clothes as I went through cold climates.”

He had originally planned to get back by last Christmas but cold weather in Turkey prompted a change of plan and he set off for the Middle East and from Egypt to North Africa before heading for Sicily and Italy and up through Europe.

His route took him to Vietnam and neighbouring countries and to China, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran but he had to avoid Iraq.

Mr Gostelow is preparing a presentation about his journey to give to organisations and schools to raise funds for Children in Crisis – a charity that helps people he met in some of the impoverished parts along his route.

He is giving a presentation at Cerne Abbas Village Hall on November 22 at 7.30pm. Entry is £3 and proceeds go to the charity.

He said: “It’s still sinking in that I’m back – I keep reflecting on people and places and the experiences I had. But I think my travelling will stop for now.”