At the time there was no recognised record for being the youngest person to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle. There was circumnavigational records for boat, cycle and plane, but not by motorcycle. 
With the ambition and passion to drive younger people to travel the world by motorcycle this was the best way to start a trend of young adventure riders. Beginning a world record where knowing we all only get older so starting something for others to achieve. This showed it is possible and it can be done, travelling the world by motorcycle at a young age. 

Now seeing other young adventurers pop up and breaking this record, it is a sobering feeling for me personal. As I set out to inspire younger riders, and see younger faces out there in the world riding and travelling the world. This shows me I achieved what I set out to achieve!

​

The rules you have to follow to properly say circumnavigate the world on land so not just around the top example, round Russia, Canada and Europe yet never touching the Southern Hemisphere. To achieve this, you had to followed the “Circumnavigation Rules” laid out by the Official body of Guinness Book of World Records, of which was:

 

• Start and finish from the same location - London.

• The same motorcycle should be used for the entire journey - Triumph Tiger 800XC

• The applicant must be legally old enough to ride a motorcycle in each country passed through - Tick

• The journey must be continuous, with each leg of the journey beginning at the point at which the previous leg ended. - Tick

• The journey must be a minimum of 24,900 miles (40,075 kms) - 56,854 miles (91,497 kms)

• The age of the claimant will be taken as that at the completion of the journey. 24 years, 12 days old.

• The rider should ride overland across the Equator at least once. Meaning you ride both north and south hemisphere. - Ecuador

• Cross two antipodes points, (Unsure what antipodes mean, click here.) - Spain and New Zealand. ( 4 antipodes were ticked off, also Santiago, Chile and Xi'an, China)

 

 

Rhys started at the age of 22 years, 9 months, and 27 days and finished at the record age of 24 years, 12 days old.

The final part of the around the world trip is also the start of the 2nd world record, the “Most Consecutive Capital Cities Visited by Motorcycle”. This record started in Montevideo, Uruguay and then continued ticking off ONLY capital cities till the end - London, England. London being the start and stop point rule for the youngest person to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle record, and being the last capital city for the Most Consecutive Capital City Record.

​

The Final Chapter brought many different challenges, where I was no longer able to come across hidden locations, go down off the beaten tracks, or stop in nice small towns in the middle of nowhere. It’s was going from gas station to gas station, big city straight to another. No stops, no rest!

It was all about pushing on and digging deep, battling boredom on main highway roads, fighting through city traffic, and not to mention the huge average mileage on the Tiger 800.

To top it all off it was done right after already being on the road for over 11 months and already doing well over 40,000 miles! Travel fatigue was already settling in.

 

The old record was 5 consecutive capital cities completed in Central America. I achieved 51 consecutive capital cities in 3 continents, South America, Africa and then Europe. 

To date, the record is still there to be broken. See the Guinness World Record by clicking here.

​

The rules set out by Guinness World Records for this one are really strict, it’s almost like playing a card or board game;

 

• This record is for the most consecutive capital cities visited on a motorcycle without returning to the point of origin.

• A consecutive visit means that you travel directly from one capital city to another with no rest stops in between except for refuelling and border crossings.

• The participant can only take prolonged rest breaks once he/she arrives at a capital city.

• There is no time limit for this record.

• While there is no time limit, if the participant is inactive in one capital city for more than 14 days the record attempt will be deemed over.

• A visit to a capital city is defined as visiting ONE of the following landmarks if found within the city centre: Town Hall, National Theatre, Seat of Government, Main transport hub (train station or bus station) or Main Square.

• No capital city may be counted more than once on the journey.

• Any one capital can only be "revisited" once while on the journey. Any additional visits and the attempt will be disqualified.