Cyclist recreating dad's ride to Australia 40 years on
A cyclist is attempting to replicate a huge challenge his dad embarked on 40 years ago – by riding across the world from the UK to Australia on the same bike.
Jamie Hargreaves set off on the solo challenge from Derby, England, to Derby in Australia, in May.
The 22-year-old has been taking on the huge trip along the same route as his dad, Phil, who completed it at the same age in 1984.
Jamie, from Poynton in Cheshire, said the trip could take him about a year, and has been travelling about 100km a day.
He has been chronicling his journey on social media, recreating the photos his dad Phil, 62, took, and even meeting some of the same people.
Jamie said he had been planning for the challenge since he was a child.
"I've wanted to do this for a long time because I was raised on my dad's stories,” Jamie told the BBC during a lunch stop in Croatia.
"He used to tell us the extent of his travels, and it always inspired me to want to do something similar and have those experiences he did.
"I've technically been planning the trip since I was in Year Two. It's come so far now and here we are in Croatia."
Since setting off from Derby, where his parents grew up, Jamie has travelled through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Next, he will go through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, into Serbia before heading towards Turkey via Bulgaria.
In an effort to keep the cost of the trip as low as possible, he said he had been living "dirtbag style" – by wild camping, sleeping in supermarket car parks, and staying in bus shelters.
Jamie added: "I'm doing what I can to do the trip as cheap as possible. It's been really fun – the good and the bad, I've enjoyed it alike.
"There's been quite a few problems with the bike – from broken wheels to all sorts of broken parts – which you'd expect given it's 45 years old.
"I've had a couple of crashes, and a mishap where I thought my hand was broken, but I've loved it so far.
"Dad is so happy that I'm doing this and he's really keen to see how the countries have changed over the past 40 years."
The total distance for the trip will be about 30,000km, but while he intends to follow his dad's route as closely as possible, Jamie said it would vary along the way.
The product design graduate said he hoped to complete the trip without flying and without spending more than £5,000.
Mr Hargreaves added: "My body is completely fine, although my legs are a bit sore if I've had a long day, and at the end of some days I have an achy knee.
"My bum was hurting a bit being sat on a bike for hours a day - but it's getting used to it."
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