28 Mar 2019
Engineering student releases new book telling inspirational story
Loughborough student, Tom Davies, has released a new book telling the story of his inspirational cycle around the world, which he completed when he was just nineteen years old.
Tom – who is studying Product Design Engineering and is currently on his placement year – became the youngest person ever to complete the challenge when he finished in 2015.
The book, titled Emu Racing and Record Chasing, documents his 18,000-mile solo ride around the world, which took him 174 days.
In doing this, he also raised over £67,000 for three charities - Prostate Cancer UK, The Sohana Research Fund and Carney’s Community.
During his London-to-London loop, Tom rode from London to Istanbul, before covering the West and East coast of India from Mumbai to Kolkata.
He then travelled through Southeast Asia from Mandalay to Singapore, followed by riding from Perth to Brisbane in Australia. This stretch included the Nullarbor plain, a 200,000 km square area of arid desert and sandstone.
Tom then cycled both the South and the North Islands of New Zealand, before flying to San Francisco and cycling across North America to Boston. On the last leg of his journey, Tom travelled from Lisbon, through Spain and France before finally arriving home on 9 August 2015.
Speaking about his book, Tom said: "I can't wait to be able to share it with people. After almost three years, it feels a bit surreal to be so close.
“I've taken a lot from the experience, but, above all, I just hope it's something that people will enjoy reading. I try not to take myself too seriously, and I've aimed to put an amusing spin on what was a fairly sizeable and difficult challenge."
Tom is undertaking his placement year with sports technology company, INCUS Performance, which is based on the Loughborough campus.
‘Emu Racing and Record Chasing’ is available to buy now on Tom’s publishers’ website and also on his website here.