People

Andrew Welch and Tom Allen from Leicestershire are going to attempt to circumnavigate the globe on their mountain bikes.

The boys going to left the UK on 17 June 2007 and have now been biking for over three months, staying off the roads wherever possible.

Andrew and Tom's friend, Mark Maultby, joined them for part of the trip, travelling from his home in the Midlands to Gibraltar.

The Plan

BBC Leicester's Julie Mayer went to speak to Andrew and Tom about their expedition to cycle-navigate the world...

The expedition will be raising funds and awareness for The Wilderness Foundation, a charity that preserves and promotes the value of the world's last remaining wild areas.

The lads will also be working as ambassadors for Wheels4Life - a non-profit organization that provides bikes for people in Third-World countries in need of transportation to get to work or to school, funded by famous mountain biker Hans Rey.

Andrew explains why he's undertaking the expedition...

When we talk of going on a journey, it means a train ride to London, a trip to the south coast, a flight to France – but what is a journey but a means of getting from A to B in the quickest or cheapest manner possible?

Before such commodities as the internet, air travel and motorways, the journey was the main event, with weeks of travelling involved to accomplish an objective.

From the moment of departure, you lived on the road, not knowing what was in store round the next corner. 

And on that journey, you'd meet friends and foes, develop skills, make mistakes, overcome challenges, and etch permanent memories into your mind.

I believe that the art of the journey is in danger of being lost in today's society, and I'm determined to rediscover it. 

To do this, I'm going to join the renaissance of a movement that saw its heyday over 80 years ago.  The humble bicycle tour is not necessarily the next big thing, but you'll see more like me in years to come.

A simple passion

For me, mountain biking is a dream pastime.  I'm good at it.  I crave it. 

The unknown is always there round the next corner to be discovered.  There is a great satisfaction to getting there under one's own steam.  The journey is the destination.

To travel a great distance by bike, for me, is a logical progression. 

Usually a cycle ride starts and ends in the same place but I'm going to set out and see how far I can go, following my passion through new trails to new places. 

The bonus is that I get better at my sport.  I'll stop when I am tired and make camp, sitting by the fire, making food and observing, contemplating and discussing with my travelling companions. 

This simplicity – just to concentrate on things that matter, without distractions – is incredibly appealing.

A whimsical, idealist existence?

But am I not sacrificing a stable job, my friends and family, my roots, my safety and my life as I know it, for the sake of some whimsical, idealist existence? 

Without taking the plunge into the unknown, no progress can really be made, not to mention restricting life to an ever-narrower path. 

I hope that taking action to find out about the wider world, the people, the civilization or history that we all come from will give me the opportunity to make a positive contribution, and develop a better understanding of the world – one which is now facing the greatest challenges we've ever known. 

Each second, Planet Earth and its environment changes irreversibly at our collective hands.

There is a time to settle and a time to build a stable life but, at present, I have little information to base that decision upon.

I believe that if I don't reach out right now towards the biggest question facing us as a species – why we are here – then I have sacrificed any chance of finding so much as a hint of the answer. 

But life changing opportunities take hard work and rarely come from nothing. 

From home to the unknown

It has taken monumental determination to pull aside the fabric of the elaborate world I have constructed for myself, but the rewards of that effort promise to be far greater. 

From my bike, I will watch the environment evolving around me – moving, but subtly, without disturbance.

As I approach the leaving date, my mind races at the prospect of not knowing how I will react to the prolonged changes I will experience. 

What I do know is that the prospect is as immensely exhilarating as it is terrifying, but also that it'll take more than fear to stop me.

To find out more about the Ride Earth Expedition please visit www.ride-earth.com where you will  be able to follow our progress via our online video podcast and blog.