---
product_id: 50876971
title: "Life Cycles - A London bike courier decided to cycle around the world. 169 days later, he came back with a world record."
price: "¥3600"
currency: JPY
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/50876971-life-cycles-a-london-bike-courier-decided-to-cycle-around
store_origin: JP
region: Japan
---

# Life Cycles - A London bike courier decided to cycle around the world. 169 days later, he came back with a world record.

**Price:** ¥3600
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Life Cycles - A London bike courier decided to cycle around the world. 169 days later, he came back with a world record.
- **How much does it cost?** ¥3600 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.jp](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/50876971-life-cycles-a-london-bike-courier-decided-to-cycle-around)

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- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

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## Description

Julian Sayarer grew up riding a bicycle. Working as a bike courier in London, he learned the world record for a circumnavigation by bike had been broken, and that cycling into the sunset had been bought by banks and big business. Determined to do things differently, Julian set out to take back the record for the people. Life Cycles is his story of that record, riding 110 miles every 24 hours for 6 months on only GBP8.84 a day - a route through jungles, snow and 20 different countries. He found himself stranded without money in the deserts of Kazakhstan, held up by insurrections in northwest China, and sleeping under motorway bridges in America's Deep South. Taken by life on the road and a spirit of adventure, he loved every minute of it. A tale of excitement and world politics by bicycle, travelling at 12mph, Julian found that the Tartars of Central Asia aren't so different to the trailer families of Louisiana. This book is a reminder that the world is out there - and it's waiting for us.

Review: Brilliant account, well written, honest, gritty. A must. - I read a lot of adventure style books but this one really stands out. It is utterly brilliant. If you are expecting whole chapters on kit choice, logistical planning and training schedules you have come to the wrong place. If however you are looking for an honest observation of the world we live in through the eyes of somebody who is sleeping in the dirt, who's only real short term goals are to acquire food and to accrue mileage and who can be relied upon not to embellish, I think you are in for a treat. Most cycle adventure books I read actually leave me feeling pretty sad. The author taking time to publicly bad mouth people who had in some way actually tried to help them, but in the eyes of the 'adventurer' had somehow hindered them in their most noble of quests, after all nothing else in the world mattered more to them than the challenge they had set themselves. Life Cycles is very different in this respect. This book is littered with tales of compassion an human kindness. Some may find Julian's opinions harsh but it is difficult to argue with his logic, one instance that springs to mind is when he encountered an impoverished family in the US who told racist jokes. Instead of criticising the family in question Julian recognised why they behaved they way they did and who was truly responsible. I think whether you enjoy this book will depend upon where you are in your life. Many are unable or unwilling to identify a world outside of their job, their house, their finance agreements and if they are lucky, an annual holiday. However if you have begun to question the value and true cost of such a lifestyle both to the outside world and to your own wellbeing you should really give this book a read. Julian meets some amazing people on his travels and there are some really emotional moments. I found it positive, inspirational and full of hope. Frank
Review: " There was a lot of deliberating during the 100-odd miles a day - terrific achievement, by the way - but I did ... - Tricky, as this is unlike any other cyclist's story I've read so far. To quote the author, "... ride a bicycle and never write a word about the thing..." and "I'm self-contained, live deep inside my own head, forever deliberating..." There was a lot of deliberating during the 100-odd miles a day - terrific achievement, by the way - but I did miss the expected more usual routine/s of a cycling trip. It was a long trip and a long read. Extremely well written and I imagine the ability to write so effectively can transmit to other books, if he so chooses.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | 959,479 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 245 in Sport Events Travel 379 in Cycling History & Biography 6,586 in Travel Writing (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 218 Reviews |

## Images

![Life Cycles - A London bike courier decided to cycle around the world. 169 days later, he came back with a world record. - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71bblIwjtGL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brilliant account, well written, honest, gritty. A must.
*by J***Y on 20 November 2014*

I read a lot of adventure style books but this one really stands out. It is utterly brilliant. If you are expecting whole chapters on kit choice, logistical planning and training schedules you have come to the wrong place. If however you are looking for an honest observation of the world we live in through the eyes of somebody who is sleeping in the dirt, who's only real short term goals are to acquire food and to accrue mileage and who can be relied upon not to embellish, I think you are in for a treat. Most cycle adventure books I read actually leave me feeling pretty sad. The author taking time to publicly bad mouth people who had in some way actually tried to help them, but in the eyes of the 'adventurer' had somehow hindered them in their most noble of quests, after all nothing else in the world mattered more to them than the challenge they had set themselves. Life Cycles is very different in this respect. This book is littered with tales of compassion an human kindness. Some may find Julian's opinions harsh but it is difficult to argue with his logic, one instance that springs to mind is when he encountered an impoverished family in the US who told racist jokes. Instead of criticising the family in question Julian recognised why they behaved they way they did and who was truly responsible. I think whether you enjoy this book will depend upon where you are in your life. Many are unable or unwilling to identify a world outside of their job, their house, their finance agreements and if they are lucky, an annual holiday. However if you have begun to question the value and true cost of such a lifestyle both to the outside world and to your own wellbeing you should really give this book a read. Julian meets some amazing people on his travels and there are some really emotional moments. I found it positive, inspirational and full of hope. Frank

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ " There was a lot of deliberating during the 100-odd miles a day - terrific achievement, by the way - but I did ...
*by S***D on 31 August 2016*

Tricky, as this is unlike any other cyclist's story I've read so far. To quote the author, "... ride a bicycle and never write a word about the thing..." and "I'm self-contained, live deep inside my own head, forever deliberating..." There was a lot of deliberating during the 100-odd miles a day - terrific achievement, by the way - but I did miss the expected more usual routine/s of a cycling trip. It was a long trip and a long read. Extremely well written and I imagine the ability to write so effectively can transmit to other books, if he so chooses.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The hell with records
*by S***R on 27 December 2014*

I read this and Mark Beaumont’s “The Man Who Cycled The World” more or less back to back. The contrast illuminates both books (and Beaumont’s suffers from the comparison) as it should, for Sayerer was inspired by Beaumont. Or perhaps ‘provoked’ is the right word. Sayerer spent his childhood in Leicestershire and seems to have grown up on a bike. Unwilling to put his good education to the service of a corrupt corporate culture, he decided to get paid for doing what he loved, and worked as a London bike courier. He also rode for pleasure, breathing in the exhilaration of spinning through the countryside powered by one’s own legs and lungs, seeing life on the land, also a part of it. What goes by the name of ‘cycle touring’ acquaints one with the world without protecting one from it. It is a step down from pilgrimage, but only one step. Beaumont’s record-setting feat offended Sayerer deeply. Beaumont – by his own account not a cyclist – had taken on setting the round-the-world cycling record as a physical and mental challenge, a way of marking himself in the world. His book is an expansion of his diary: how he prepared for the feat, where he went, how he got on, how his mother supported him with advice, money and help arranged from England. Beaumont’s sponsored ride round the world had taken a way of being out in the world, open to its wonders and people, and turned it into an obstacle to be overcome, a personal challenge to be conquered. (It also raise the predictable money for charities that Beaumont remembers to mention in his book.) Sayerer was outraged to see what he loved perverted into an obstacle for the ego to surmount. Unwisely he resolved to right this wrong. He set out, unsponsored and unsupported, with two grand in the bank, to confiscate Beaumont’s title. Over and over he regrets his quest. The path to the east was partly familiar from previous rides to Istanbul. But he stayed north, crossing the great open spaces of Ukraine before the even vaster spaces of the Asian steppe through Kazakhstan to China, down the American West Coast to Mexico, across the southern states, up to Boston just in time for his flight to Spain and the home run to Paris. There are lyrical passages of great beauty. His descent of the Oregon and California coasts, and a 30-mile coast out of the mountains into the Sonoran desert. He is moved even more by people, the impossible views and heart-warming generosity of Texans. There are passages of madness as he rides late into the nights racing to his unmissable Boston flight, arriving sleepless in Manhattan after a 330 mile ride then going out to party downtown with his hosts. He has little to say about the hardships: sleeping in concrete drainage pipes under the Kazakh highway; riding his loaded tour bike one legged for 50 miles when a crank breaks. These are mere irritations in his quest to see the world. And it’s not the hardships that make him regret his project, it’s the stupidity of circling the world on a bike at speed instead of taking time with people and places. This is not a manual for adventure cycling. He has little to say about equipment or technique. In the end it’s not the athleticism or endurance that stays with you or even Sayarer’s heroic determination; it’s his fierce joy in the beauty of the world and meeting some of the rest of us in it that leaves me wanting to straddle the saddle again and get out there myself. And the hell with records.

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*Product available on Desertcart Japan*
*Store origin: JP*
*Last updated: 2026-10-28*