Father and son complete 18,000-mile world cycle, set three Guinness Records
A father and son from Norfolk have broken three world records after spending 400 days cycling 18,000 miles around the globe. George Kohler, 57, and his 23-year-old son Josh returned home to a hero’s welcome on May 2, 2026.
The duo set off on their mammoth challenge on March 29, 2025, from their home near Norwich. In total they traveled 18,000 miles, equivalent to 30,400 km, through South America, Australia, Asia and Europe. Guinness World Records presented them certificates for the fastest bicycle circumnavigation of the world by a father and son, the longest bicycle journey by a father and son, and the most countries visited in a continuous bicycle journey by a father and son. They cycled through 31 countries across four continents.
The pair were newcomers to long-distance cycling when they started. Josh said they had never cycled before proposing the idea after reading adventurer Leon McCarron’s book. “We had to learn to get our bodies used to doing long cycles,” he said. They built up experience with a UK Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2021, then a 3,728-mile journey from New York City to San Francisco in 2022. George, a former British military serviceman for 27 years who now runs a chimney sweeping business, agreed with a simple “Perfect, why not?” when Josh suggested going global.
Over 400 days they climbed a total of 180,000 metres — the equivalent height of 20 Mount Everests — and burned an average of 4,000 calories each day. They faced temperatures from 47C to minus 3C while riding through deserts, jungles and mountain passes. One standout moment came in remote Turkey when a shepherd on a hillside beckoned them over. “We wouldn’t speak Turkish, and he couldn’t speak English, but we had this incredible interaction with him,” Josh recalled. They shared eggs, bread and cheese from the shepherd’s campfire pot.
They arrived back at their front door after circling the globe “to the right of their front door, having departed to the left,” as Josh put it. About 70 cyclists joined them for the final leg, and hundreds of friends and neighbors cheered them across the finish line in Halvergate near Norwich, waving Union flags. “The final day was extremely emotional seeing friends and family,” George said. “People that I haven’t seen for years and years were there to welcome us.”
