When Marc Delval cycled into Wanganui recently, he was fulfilling a dream to ride around the world and, relatively speaking, he did not have far to go as New Zealand is almost the final leg of a trip that has so far taken 10 years.
The then 56-year-old Frenchman began his ride in 2005 when he left his home town of Blodelsheim in Alsace to begin a series of epic journeys across continents, through archipelagos, over mountains and around islands.
He began in Canada and cycled from Vancouver to the east coast, then into the United States to finish at Boston. The almost 10,000km took him five months but he knew he was ready to take on the world.
Unfortunately, he had to get back home to his job, but the following year returned to his dream, flying to the Caribbean to cover Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, St Martin, Martinique and other islands. Over six months he rode more than 5000km.
In 2007 he rode from Hong Kong to Beijing, pedalling his 65kg bicycle on the first of many Asian excursions.
In 2008, at the age of 60, Marc retired, allowing him to pursue his dream full-time, financing it with the generous French pension. He immediately took on a European ride, cycling 29,000km in 17 months.
From there it was back to China where he rode across that country, following the Silk Road through Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine to Romania, continuing through Europe to London.
Then he cycled through China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In Singapore he took part in the local marathon, forsaking his bike for running shoes for a few hours.
Before crossing to New Zealand, where he spent Christmas, he biked down the east coast of Australia, beginning at Cairns and flying out from Melbourne.
By the time Marc completes his quest he will have covered more than 109,000km and been to dozens of countries. Not bad for a man who speaks only French (he says he's never had time to learn another language). His travels have been documented by newspapers and magazines around the world, in more languages than anyone could learn.
In Wanganui he stayed at College House in Campbell St, where owners Matt and Verena Nowak acted as interpreters for Midweek.
Alone and on a bicycle, Marc has travelled some of the most dangerous roads on the planet. The most trouble he ever had, he says, was getting his heavy bike and all his gear over mountains. No mention of bandits, thieves or bad drivers.
His bike is covered in decals from all the countries he has seen, although monkeys in Thailand managed to remove a few. His adventures fill cyberspace in text and photos and he has made presentations to schools at home and abroad.
"It's a living document," says Marc, showing some of the hundreds of photos on his trusty laptop computer. He has had his picture taken with the President of Singapore and behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, as well as in the world's most remote places.
The material will go towards a book when his journey is finally completed.
From New Zealand he travels across Polynesia to San Francisco from where he will complete the final leg of his incredible journey before heading home.
"Everyone," he says, "should live their dream."
Un homme, un velo, une aventure / a man, a bicycle, an adventure ... Marc living his dream

ON TOUR: Marc Delval (left) with Verena and Matt Nowak of College House. PICTURE: PAUL BROOKS
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