Cycling around the world in 24 years

• German baker is determined to complete journey despite the danger

When he was eight, Lubben and his best friend planned to travel around the world. In 1982, he made a tour across Europe on a bus and thought of doing the trip on a bicycle.

When he set out on March 15, 1986, he was sure the journey across the world would take eight years; instead it has taken 24, and he is yet to complete it.

“Every day is a new experience because you never know where you are going to stay each night,” said Lubben, a trained confectioner and baker.

Every time he completes a journey across a country, he writes the kilometres covered on a board hanging on his bicycle.

At the time of the interview, he had covered 75,590 kilometres and had suffered 320 punctures.

He said he rarely cycles at night, unless his visa is about to expire and he has to reach the border by a certain time. He recalls his travels through Pokot and Turkana as “very dangerous” because most of the residents carried guns.

“I thought it was my time to die but still had to go on,” he said.

When he was crossing Morocco (the first country he visited in Africa), a knife-wielding mugger waylaid him on the road, and although he didn’t hurt him, he stole some of his belongings.

But the most gruelling experience was when he had to push his bicycle through the Sahara Desert for 24 days at the beginning of 1988.

“It was scary, but a good experience. Trucks would pass, and I would only ask for water,” he said. “It was hot, the sand was loose, and I had to walk many kilometres a day, but somehow I managed.”

Petro, who is still single, says he is often very lonely when he travels.