An explorer cycled 22,500 miles safely around the world in 430 days only to have his Bike stolen from outside a pub in Hammersmith.
Geordie Stewart, 34, had his Bike Stolen outside the Anglesea Arms pub in Hammersmith, west London on Tuesday.
The theft of Stewart’s bike, which he nicknamed Dorothy, was captured by a security camera of a house.
After a lengthy flight, he continued his journey to America’s west coast, cycling to the east coast before catching a flight to Portugal and cycling back to London in 2019.
Geordie Stewart (pictured), 34, had his bike stolen outside the Anglesea Arms pub in Hammersmith, west London on Tuesday
The theft of Stewart’s bike, which he nicknamed Dorothy, was captured by a security camera of a house
Prior to being stolen in London, there was many close calls for Dorothy along the way, with the bike nearly being stolen at knifepoint in Italy and being taken into custody by the police in China.
Stewart told The Times: ‘I went for a drink with a couple of friends who I was in the army with just catching up . . . I came out and the bike was not there.’
Stewart desire to regain Dorothy – which he purchased for a few hundred pounds in 2018 on eBay – is down to sentimental value rather than monetary gain.
He added: ‘I’ve put the bike through every condition you can imagine, from minus 45C in Kazakhstan to 45C in California. It almost got stolen by a guy with a knife in Italy, it was taken by the Chinese police and confiscated for a while. I was threatened by people in the middle of the outback in Australia.’
Stewart’s adventures started in London in 2018 and saw him cycle through France , central Asia, Australia and New Zealand
After a lengthy flight, he continued his journey to America’s west coast, cycling to the east cast before catching a flight to Portugal and cycling back to London in 2019
Stewart also went on to explain why he named his bike Dorothy.
He said: ‘I named her Dorothy because she’s a Dawes, a British cycling brand, so I felt she needed to be British. And Dorothy’s a character in The Wizard of Oz and I was trying to head towards Australia so I thought that Dorothy was fittingly British [as she is] journeying.’
At the age of 22, Stewart became the youngest Briton to climb the highest mountain in every continent before joining the army for five years.
Stewart said that he had not told police that Dorothy had been stolen as he felt the the police had bigger things to worry about.
However he said he still hopes he can regain the bike, whether it is through a second-hand marketplace or if a new owner recognises it and returns it to him.
