In November 2008, Simon Evans and Fearghal O'Nuallain began the first Irish circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle. Their unsupported expedition will cover over 30,000km, passing through 30 countries and some of the highest, lowest, driest, coldest, warmest and loneliest places on earth. In doing so, they will be promoting the positive contribution that cycling can make to mental health by encouraging people to get on their bikes, and by raising funds for Aware.

Ferg and Si have been mates as far back as they can remember, and have been dreaming about going on a big adventure for almost as long.

One rainy night in Dublin, three years ago, they made a pact to turn their dream into a reality. Over a few too many Guinness in The Stag's Head they agreed to take a chance and attempt something that seemed almost impossible to two ordinary lads from Wicklow. Boldly, they decided to cycle around the world.

The next three years were spent planning and training, poring over maps and reading expedition journals. Climbing mountains, cycling 1000km through the Egyptian desert, crawling through the freezing mud of the infamous Tough Guy Challenge and of course, spending many grueling miles in the saddle.

Fearghal O' Nuallain biography

I grew up in Greystones, Wicklow, just across the green from Simon with whom I used to trade National Geographic magazines and Asterix books as a nipper.

When I left school I had dreams of owning my own restaurant so I trained as a chef and studied wine. I worked in some decent restaurants in Dublin, L'ecrivain and Shanahans on the Green, and with Donovan and Phillippa Cooke at Ondine in Melbourne.

After a 6 month stint at Ondine in 2003 I needed to clear my head so I borrowed a friend's bike and cycled 1,000km from Melbourne to Sydney. The trip took nearly 3 weeks as I was so unfit after 16hr days at the stoves. Despite the challenge, I loved the feeling of freedom and achievement associated with cycling long distances, and the trip sowed the seeds for future adventures. These seeds have been watered by camping trips in the Jungles of Malaysia and the Philippines, cycling solo from Dublin to St Petersburg, Trekking in the high Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and cycling through the Egyptian Desert.

I've just finished a BA in Economics and Geography at UCC, after deciding that it was high time to get some education. Now that's out of the way though, its time for an adventure. By spending 18 months cycling around the earth, I hope that I'll get to see some of the places from those National Geographic magazines that used to fill my daydreams as a boy.

And, if I'm really lucky, I might even get to have a few adventures with my best mate, just like Asterix and Obelix.

Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around

Sophia, Vanilla Sky

Simon Evans biography

I was born in Dublin in 1981 and raised in Wicklow between the hills and the sea where my love of nature and the outdoors was born. As part of an active family, I would often go hill walking, rock climbing, surfing, sailing and mountainbiking, in fact pretty much anything adventurous and outdoors.

I went to school in Wicklow then studied structural engineering in Trinity College, Dublin. After receiving my degree I moved to Cambridge, England where I lived and worked as a structural engineer until mid 2008.

While on the first of my adventures in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo, I experienced the thrill of travelling to new and exciting cultures, eating exotic food, seeing incredible plants, animals and landscapes. Cycling adventures in Ireland, Portugal, Morocco and the UK led me to appreciate the merits of bicycle touring, being self powered along with being engulfed by your surroundings.

Revolution cycle will require me to push my limits and by doing so, I hope to find things about myself that I would not know if left untested. By sharing my experiences with others, I hope to inspire others to think big and to explore their own potential.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poet

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about the site

This site was designed by Simon and coded by Emma Claire Hayden and Simon using HTML with CSS styling. The code was edited using textwrangler and the photos were adjusted using Photoshop. The flickr badge is available here (you need to sign in) and the slideshow is from pictobrowser. The excellent vimeo hubnut badge is from here. To see the vimeo video's you need Flash Player 9.

The tracking map on the route page is from blogloc and the route map is from google maps. The blog on the home page is from wordpress. To view this site properly you need a decent browser such as mozilla firefox.