A young British adventurer has completed an astonishing cycling expedition from the UK to Thailand, overcoming numerous obstacles along the way. Olly Hargreaves, a 26-year-old product engineer from Poynton, Cheshire, embarked on the ambitious 8-month journey in April 2025, inspired by his father’s own cycling adventure to Australia in the 1980s.
Hargreaves’ odyssey took him across Europe, Central Asia and the Himalayas, with the cyclist braving treacherous conditions, including tiger-infested jungles and aggressive stray dogs. Despite these challenges, Hargreaves persevered, raising over £2,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK along the way.
The adventurer’s journey took an unexpected turn in Nepal, where he suffered a broken collarbone just days before reaching his final destination. Undeterred, Hargreaves continued his journey, reuniting with his girlfriend Ellie in Bangkok before exploring northern Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
“It feels great to look back on how far I’ve come,” Hargreaves said. “We had a good time despite what happened. If something’s happened that you can’t change, being in a bad mood isn’t going to make it better – it’s only going to worsen your experiences, so I try and make something good out of it.”
Hargreaves’ father, who had cycled from the UK to Australia in the 1980s, provided the inspiration for the young adventurer’s journey. “Back then there were no mobile phones, there were paper maps and you had traveller’s cheques, so it was a completely different world,” Hargreaves said. “Most people weren’t travelling around when he was. He went through all sorts of places, like Iran, where very few Westerners would be. So as you can imagine, he had some pretty wild stories. I always wanted to do the same thing.”
Despite the challenges he faced, Hargreaves’ remarkable journey has inspired others and demonstrated the power of determination and resilience in the face of adversity.
