... just a small town kiwi girl with a thirst for adventure, a bee in my bonnet about social justice and a good dose of stubborn determination. Currently trying to finish my PhD thesis, I figured what better way to procrastinate than to ride my bike across China for a few months...

The 2018 China Traverse was not my first bicycle adventure, as I have previously cycled through the intimidating mountain passes of the Indian Himalaya and across the acrid deserts of Chile to the dizzying high altitudes and soaring volcanic plateau of Bolivia. In both cases, my trusty adventure buddy Rebecca was at my side. In both those instances we had support vehicles. 

The 2018 China Traverse was a significant jump off the deep end. Much longer, much further and much less support on hand than any of my prior endeavours. 

I joined Rebecca (of @thelongwayhomenz) in Kashgar, China in early October 2018 to begin my journey and we raced the arrival of winter across the deserts of western China. Rebecca and I finally parted ways some 5000km later in the city of Kunming, as she headed deep into south-east Asia while I made tracks towards the South China Sea, culminating my journey in Beihai, a Chinese beach resort in the far south-east of the country.

I rode in support of World Bicycle Relief, a charity focused on mobilising and enabling others through providing access to bicycles. It is amazing how life changing a bicycle can be - click on the links to learn more about this charity, what they do, and experience why a bike can be life changing.