Cycles

At the end of February, two British cyclists returned to London from a very long journey across the world.

Susan Wheeldon and Jamie Vining cycled through France, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and the United States.

They cycled, cycled and cycled in order to promote solar energy. Because they could not cycle across seas and oceans, they took cargos and ferries in order to minimise their carbon footprints.

Their adventure lasted for 9 months, during which time they travelled 13,000 miles and collected thousands of pounds for SolarAid, the solar energy charity.

Before leaving Tower Bridge in London in May 2009, they encouraged certain measures such as financially rewarding whoever generated solar energy in the country. Involved with the campaigner group 'We support Solar', they multiplied contacts and spread the word. Their long quest, sponsored by Nokia, attracted attention to renewable energy.

Two weeks before their arrival, the Government launched what is now known as 'Feed-in tariff' rates, money which is allocated to whoever is able to generate solar energy in the country. Their long journey already seems to have great repercussions on people's perceptions.

[Images spotted on Solar Century]

Did you know that ... 600,000 Britons already cycle to work. As well as living longer, together they save the same amount of CO2 every quarter of an hour as one car would produce driving around the world. On average cyclists double the speed of a city car in cross town traffic. Read more...

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