Tom Bruce

Tom Bruce grew up in the small village of Bunbury in Cheshire and spent most of his childhood riding bikes. He studied mechanical engineering at Edinburgh University, before working for a small renewable energy firm. During this time, he realised that there was no way he could settle down to a 9-5 job for the rest of his life without realising his dream of seeing the world. One day, he made the decision to quit his job, say goodbye to his loved ones, and set off to cycle unsupported around the world at the age of 24. In March 2011, with little preparation and no training, Tom set off on his bike, "Sandy" with the mission to cross Europe, Asia and America using nothing but a bike. In under 10 months, Tom cycled 23,000 kilometers, having achieved his ambition, and having had the best experiences of his life in the process. On the trip, Tom spent nights in people's houses all over the world, slept in Yurts, camped with nomads, ate delicious food ranging from Tibetan stew to alligator meat, partied with Kazakhs on the Caspian Sea ferry, saw Stalin's house, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall and crossed sweltering deserts and huge mountains. Tom returned from his trip, having raised thousands of pound for his charity SOS Children's Villages, and with a new perspective on life. He now spends his time studying a PhD at the University of Sheffield between other adventures, which have included cycling across the French Alps, training for and completing Ironman Zurich, cycling the Three Gorges in China on a £15 folding bike and many more bike tours in the UK. The memories, highlights, challenges and experiences with the people of the world during his round the world trip are shared in his honest, exciting and fascinating book about his around the world adventure named "Every Inch of the Way; My Bike Ride around the World".