"One man, one bike, one dream - to be fastest around the world." "To smash the record, Mark Beaumont must cycle 18,000 miles in just 200 days." "He's crossed Europe, but now faces Asia's vast deserts and teeming cities." "He'll run the risk of being taken hostage." "The reality is it's not safe." "At night it's ruled by the smugglers." "Mark will be tested as never before." "Every instinct said stop, you've done your 100 miles, stop, but my mind wouldn't let me." "Good morning." "It's day 35 and I'm on the Iranian border." "It's, er..." "I think it's 18km that way." "It's 5.30 in the morning and the sun's about to come over the mountains." "I slept well, except my Thermorest has a hole in it." "I'll get up, repack and be on the road quite early." "Leg two is the most dangerous and difficult of the race." "Through unknown Iran, skirting south of Afghanistan, over the mountains and deserts of West Pakistan and finally, right across India." "This leg is nearly 5,500 miles, over 50 punishing days in the saddle." "To maximise his daily speed, Mark plans to avoid towns and traffic, but that means less choice of food and shelter." "Well, what a day." "Day one in Iran and we're sleeping under a road." "I've spoken to someone that's done this before, slept under roads." "Apparently it's surprisingly quiet, but it's new for me." "It should be fun." "I'm going to get up super-early tomorrow and get going." "I've just had an horrific night's sleep." "I slept really well to begin with and woke up after an hour and a half and felt I had the worst sore stomach and got up and was really sick." "That happened three times, so I didn't sleep for more than an hour, hour and a half at any one time and I've got 180K to do, so I need to get on the road." "To finish this race and achieve his goal," "Mark has to cycle 100 miles for 200 days." "Every day's got its own challenges, and if you put the whole thing up, and at every point you're thinking 18,000 miles in the world, I'd burn out." "I'm a month and a half in and I'd burnt out." "My mental focus, it's amazing the way it works when I'm on the road," "I really have to focus on that day, on the next mile, the next food stop." "I mean, leg one in Turkey was fast, and I'll keep doing what I'm doing." "I'll give it my all." "Of course I will, but my priority now is to stay fit and healthy... especially through Ramadan." "I'm concerned about weight loss," "I'm already losing weight." "It's just so hard to find food." "The pressure he set himself can only be sustained by good and regular food, but Mark's hit the month of Ramadan, when food is difficult to find between dawn and dusk, and, by choice, he's a vegetarian." "Managed to find three little milk chocolates... .. one horrible dry bakery, the bakery here is disgusting." "I've got some nuts and this... disgusting, seeping banana." "That's rubbish." "I can't get any meals during the day." "I'm mean, like tins of baked beans for lunch, just out of the tin." "Really slow going, about a month... a month of Ramadan." "Laboratory tests before starting the race showed he must eat 6,000 calories per day, at least, and that's equivalent to eating six Christmas dinners." "Any less, and his muscles will waste and his body weaken." "The effects are already showing." "Today I feel pretty down." "My legs are tired." "I've got a cold and, um, I just..." "I think I feel down because I've not had enough food." "It's hard to keep the mental focus when you aren't getting the food in." "I'm going to pack up camp and get on the road." "For an endurance athlete, it's all about mental strength." "If I wasn't used to sitting on the bike I would struggle to cycle, full stop." "It would be a day in bed." "It would be a day off work for most people, but I don't really have that luxury." "This is the pace and pressure he must keep up for the next five months." "Mark's goal is to take a staggering 80 days off the current record." "Food and rest are his only allies." "This is amazing!" "I'm sleeping in a mosque tonight." "I've literally just wheeled my bike in and I'm sleeping on the Persian carpets." "It's incredible, and by the looks of it, I can do this throughout Iran." "Mark's fastest route is to stick to open highways, missing the towns." "There won't always be the luxury of a welcoming mosque every 100 miles, so it's back to living rough." "Well, it's a good thing I'm up so early." "That's the farm workers starting in the field just behind me and they came over for a chat." "They used the old technique of, if I don't understand, say it more and say it louder." "It's a British technique, I think." "Mark's on target, despite the shortage of food, but ahead lies the most dangerous place on his world route... the province of Baluchistan." "It's just miles from Helmand province in Afghanistan, an area rife with insurgents." "Just last month, over 20 people were taken hostage in the area." "I've decided to cycle on through that area." "There were thoughts about getting a bus or a train, but on balance, I've spoken to enough people who've done it, and said to get escorts, if and when." "So, I'm looking forward to it, it'll be a challenge, but it'll also be good to get through." "Mark's risks are heightened by the technology he's carrying... cameras, laptop, mobile phones and satellite tracker." "All could easily see him being accused of spying." "I'm definitely going to minimise any risks by sending back the video camera." "I'm going to keep the GPS tracker because it actually has an emergency beacon on it." "If I really do get into trouble, then I think the value of that is greater than... the risk of it being found and having to explain it." "Entering this remote area, he'll lose phone contact with home." "Only the pulse of his satellite tracker will signal his position." "Having sent back his video camera, Mark's only companion is an audio diary." "It's day 50 and I'm roughly quarter of the way around the world and it's hot, hot, hot already." "Just sand dunes everywhere." "I've got mountains on my distant right and left, just spectacular views." "I keep stopping and taking photographs, I'll never get anywhere." "Crossing the border into Baluchistan, he has to take an armed police escort." "They just want to drive him quickly through the area, but Mark wants to cycle every inch of the 18,000 miles." "There is no understanding of his challenge, and the weather is no kinder." "I'm just in the middle of absolutely nowhere here." "I'm really concerned about this sandstorm." "If it keeps going like this, it may be hard to cycle tomorrow." "Maybe they won't like me to cycle tomorrow." "The police escort I had yesterday just kept gesturing for me to get in the car, but I just ignored them." "Passed from escort to escort, his only shelter is a police cell." "There's no common language, the locals stare, the police taunt and ridicule him." "The only thing which has delayed me in the last five days is the bloody police." "Absolutely had enough of the backstabbing police." "They're a bunch of arrogant BLEEP" "For hundreds of miles, he cycles through desert and mountainous roads, passing Afghan refugee camps and finding little food." "I'm saddle sore, it's so painful." "I'm absolutely starving." "I'm pretty much out of food, I can't keep living on biscuits." "I cannot wait, cannot wait to get to Lahore." "I cannot wait to have a shave, cannot wait to be clean." "Out of the danger zone, he just wants to hear a friendly voice." "We managed to find him two days from Lahore." "Hello, how are you?" "Very good, good to see you." "You made it!" "We made it, we made it." "Welcome to another world." "I come from the wilderness!" "You look as though you've come from the wilderness!" "Well, it's good to see you." "How are things?" "Good, good." "I'm ready for a day off." "I'm ready for a day off." "There's been challenges aplenty." "The last ten days are the hardest cycling, probably the hardest thing I've ever done." "I spend 99.9% of my time on my own, with my own company, so your mind goes to strange places at some points and manifests itself in strange ways." "I find myself with strange nervous twitches and lockjaw, and strange things which I'd never get rationally." "When you're on your own so long, pushing yourself with one focus, your mind's going to tweak out at some point, but I think it's still on track." "Crikey!" "I've not really seen a mirror in Pakistan." "I'm looking a bit primal!" "None of the policemen believed I was 24." "They were all really surprised when I said I wasn't married." "Having lived in police cells for days, a cheap hotel is a luxury." "Pretty cold!" "Definitely needed this." "This is where you've got to shampoo your beard." "This is new for me!" "A few hours' sleep, always with his bike close by, then on with the race." "This is amazing, in Iran and Pakistan, setting off from these towns first thing in the morning, I'd have to stay in town because it was too dangerous to camp, and the hustle-bustle early morning is just fantastic." "You've got to have your wits about you first thing because there's no rules on these roads." "If you're bigger, you're better, and I'm on a bike so I'm bottom of the food chain." "During the day, he stops only for snacks, and Mark also needs to drink at least 10 litres of water." "It's a huge relief to have got through Pakistan in good time." "It's not been easy at all, and... to throw another spanner in the works, I got food poisoning." "So it wasn't fun at all." "For the first time, I had to take antibiotics to stay on the bike." "I love the travel, I love the adventure, the expedition, the change and the difference." "I wouldn't do it if it was all like cycling around Greater Glasgow." "18,000 miles of that would get very mundane." "Yes, it's first and foremost a record but the reason I do it is because of the people and places and the fact that you're seeing it in such an intimate way." "That's us a third of the way round the world - 6,000 miles." "I'm great!" "Fit as a fiddle and the bike has done fantastically well, but at this moment I'm pretty tired." "I think, mentally and physically, I need a break." "I'm really looking forward to India but it can wait for another day." "Got rid of my beard." "The weeks have been tough on body and bike, but just how tough?" "My calorie consumption has remained at well over 6,000 calories a day, which means that every day I've had a deficit of about 4,000 calories, which means I've been eating into reserve fats and other reserves." "It's good to see that, from the start, over two months, what I'm doing is consistent." "The output's consistent, so I need to make sure that the input's consistent, and that hasn't been the case over the last four weeks, but it should get easier." "Bike and body still have 10,000 miles to go." "Since leaving Paris over 60 days ago, they've only had six days off." "Pakistan's been the hardest country I've ever cycled across, it's not a country for your beach-bum holiday maker." "It's a proper adventure-travel country with plenty of challenges thrown in." "I'm ready for India, I'm looking forward to India." "Leaving the Muslim world behind, the crowds and cultures of India will bring their own challenges." "The next goal is Kolkata, 1,000 miles away." "He's on the road again, alone with his video diary." "Welcome back, camera." "I'm in Amsala." "What a contrast, what a change!" "Just the intensity of people, the number of people." "I've never been anywhere where the roads and the towns are so busy, so many people." "I hardly feel I leave towns just because there's people everywhere between." "It's just a shock to the system, it looks wonderful." "I can't wait to continue." "HORNS BLARE" "But next morning..." "I feel absolutely... terrible this morning." "The air and noise pollution is unbelievable." "All night, just horns outside the window, and the air is just stinking." "I woke up with a splitting headache and I've hardly slept all night." "Since leaving Istanbul six weeks ago, Mark's burning off body fat and muscle." "To prevent loss of power and energy, he must up his daily intake of food." "The Indian diet, spice apart, is ideal for a vegetarian." "That's the samosas being made, I just had them and they were delicious." "Not sure what this is." "They gave it with a spicy sauce which was horrendous, but the samosas themselves are delicious." "I'm not sure what's being made here." "I'm just trying to ask for two of each of these, so there's my two being toasted." "No idea what they are, but they'll be veggie." "There goes the spice!" "I have no idea what I'm getting." "Thank you." "Thank you!" "It's actually surprisingly good." "I was a bit worried about him ladling on the spice, but it's very tasty." "My bike's getting a lot of attention." "I'm not comfortable dragging the camera around in surroundings like this but I'd like to just, at least on one occasion..." "HORNS BLARE" ".. see what it's like when I stop." "As you can see, an absolutely incredible amount of interest any time I stop in town." "I mean... there's literally like 50 people crowded round me here, it's just amazing." "But, um, I'm going to crack on tonight to Lucknow and, um... it's hard to concentrate with this going on." "TRAIN KLAXON BLARES" "Energy in equals energy out." "An endurance athlete needs his carbs." "Here's lunch being prepared." "I think this is rice and dahl and vegetables." "I'm not sure what the soup on top is, but I'm sure it'll be spicy." "They're looking at me very funny for eating so much food but it was pretty good and not too spicy." "I think I'm just getting used to the spice." "Say hello, this is my chef." "Meeting the locals, as usual, a wonderful reaction." "A wonderful reaction from the men." "I've had no interactions, no conversations with women for about a month and a half, so it's very strange." "Like in, um..." "like in Iran and Pakistan and Turkey, the women avert their eyes and won't speak to you." "It'll be nice to get back to Australia and the First World where I can have conversations with men and women equally." "By God, they stink!" "These are the first camels I've seen in India." "I didn't know they had camels in India." "It's amazing what you see on the road." "Hello!" "SPEAKS IN NATIVE LANGUAGE" "What are you asking for?" "HE REPEATS WORD" "What is "backsis"?" "Pesha." "Pesha?" "I don't understand." "I think it's time to go." "I'm not sure, but I can only guess he was asking for money." "That's happened a few times." "It's a shame because when I stop and have conversations, or I'm filming something of interest, when they see the camera, they just see camera - money." "Ah!" "The Holy Cow, it gets right of way wherever it goes." "It's actually good stopping an hour early today to make sure I get caught up with things, get some batteries charged, look over some of the filming I've done to make sure" "I'm capturing what I'm seeing and hearing and I'm really pleased with it." "I'm really pleased with the bits I've seen." "It's hard on the bike because you just want to keep going." "The last thing you want to do is stop and film all the time so I'm trying to get a good sense of the countryside, the people and places that I'm seeing and I think it's good, I hope you enjoy it." "But, er... get to bed by nine o'clock, up at half past five and... repeat." "He's in the zone, focusing mile by mile, body and bike running well." "Over the horizon, his next big target." "First sign for Kolkata - end of leg two." "The road itself has got pretty dodgy again." "It was really good for this morning and I am three days from Kolkata here, if the roads stay good." "Look at that road!" "How am I meant to get to Kolkata in three days on a road like that?" "It's going to be impossible." "I just hope it gets better." "The clock never stops, but when you're taking on the world, you don't know what's round the next corner." "We've been stopped here for..." "I've no idea why." "They're waving red flags at us." "I think there's some road works going on." "That is an immensely hard way to cut down a tree." "Awesome!" "How to make a busy, dangerous road worse is put a tree across it!" "Brilliant!" "It's absolutely pouring!" "I've not seen rain for a month and a half, so a bit of a shock to the system." "Look at this for a terrible road." "The last five kilometres have been this, on and off." "So slow going." "Not just slow roads, but here, there's no fast food." "I've stopped here for a bite to eat and asked for some rice and dahl, the simplest thing which every kitchen in India has." "They said it would be ten minutes for the rice." "I said ten minutes is fine." "40 minutes later, rice and dahl turned up after me prompting them twice." "Half the time the chef was out here chatting to me and I was like, "Get in the kitchen and make the... my lunch!"" "So I've been delayed by, you know, 45 minutes, um... at least, so that's equivalent to 15 kilometres." "I don't know how anything gets done here." "Mark may be a man in a hurry, but everyone else has taken time off to celebrate." "Well, that's the Hindu festival which is going on at the moment." "I can't for the life of me remember the word for it." "I've been told a couple of times, but like most Indian words it's unpronounceable, even when I read it." "It's amazing, every town and village I've been through have had marquees and stages with Krishna and..." "I think it's a festival celebrating," "I was told, very simply, good over evil, the victory of good over evil, and it's wonderful to see." "It's a real festive mood through the whole of India." "I think it's a cultural thing, but the way men are with men here" "People are immediately touching you and, um... being very, very complimentary, and I don't know whether I'm just a bit over-conservative, but I'm just very uncomfortable with it." "When people who I don't really know start saying "You're wonderful, I love you"" "and complimenting my physique and stuff," "I just don't know how to handle it, I'm not used to it." "I was getting worried today." "I really pushed it out, just sat on the bike, did the miles, and thought where will I stay?" "Both sides of the road all day have just been flooded, these big plains of marshes and very, very poor villages." "Some beautiful sights and sounds." "About a kilometre back, I passed some guys." "I always ask two or three people the same question just because of the language thing and they said, "No hotel but motel, 500 metres. "" "I just leapt for joy." "It was absolutely perfect, ten past five, 162 kilometres, bang on my 100 miles and here I am." "What a night!" "The place is crawling." "Here is my bed and this is the bed next to it." "This sheet... was on the whole bed last night so this was covered and I've pulled this off in the night." "And that... .. is fresh rat's droppings." "So whilst I slept here, there were rats going about using the loo." "Oh!" "About a foot from my head." "That's pretty unacceptably disgusting." "This is what he signed up for - life on the road." "But if you try and race against Mother India, she may try and get the better of you." "I had to make a pretty tough decision at lunchtime today." "The reality is I'm not going to make Kolkata for my Tuesday flight, as I was hoping." "That's the original flight I booked in the UK four months ago." "So... it would have been amazing, it would have been a huge boost to get that." "Anyway, broken bridge, miles to be done, on we go." "After rats, rough roads and broken bridges, Mark's beginning to believe he's invincible." "I've made it... over 5,000 miles since Istanbul and at the last tiny bit," "I've broken a spoke, I've broken my back wheel again." "It's just so frustrating." "The last thing I feel like doing after riding 100 miles, and 1,400 miles in the last 14 days, is pulling my wheel apart and building that." "It's going to be a long evening." "There we go!" "Half an hour later, a new wheel." "Ah!" "The adventure continues." "I've fixed my bike and I just went to put food on and I was just boiling some water on the stove and it went whoosh!" "And the whole table..." "I don't know how it happened but the whole table was on fire." "That would have been a disaster." "The last morning, the last miles." "Adversity overcome, Kolkata beckons." "I'm hoping that, once I get to Australia, New Zealand and America, I can really build on the success of being on target after 7,500 miles and really focus on the race." "It's almost been sort of getting the miles done and keeping bike and body in on piece until this point." "From now on, I can really start to build on my success of getting through here safely." "Paris to Kolkata in 81 days." "Unbelievable!" "It's such a great feeling to get here." "His life neatly boxed, he thinks the leg's over." "Well, I've got to the airport and... came through security and I'm not on the flight." "Next time," "Mark hits the wet season." "This is like angry rain!" "It's almost painful it was so heavy." "He discovers the local wildlife." "The flies are just terrible." "I've never seen a spider that size in my life." "And finds it tough going in the Outback." "A real struggle to keep going on the bike." "I don't know what to do."