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Woman pedals from Somerset village to Singapore | UK News

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Esme Moore Esme Moore wearing black cycling shorts and a long-sleeved yellow top. She has her brown hair braided into French plaits, with reflective sunglasses resting on top of her head. She is perched on a low stone wall overlooking rolling valleys and a mountain range in Turkey. Beside her is a black bike packed with luggage, with a Great Britain flag flying on the back. Esme Moore

Esme Moore, pictured here in Cappadocia, Turkey, says the journey has been a “rollercoaster”

A woman who has cycled from Somerset to Singapore, says she “cannot believe it” and the time has “absolutely flown by”.

Esme Moore has spent a year on the road and pedalled about 15,534 miles (25,000 km), since cycling out of her parents driveway in Shipham in March 2024.

She has raised more than £10,000 for the mental health charity Body & Soul, which helped her after she tried to take her own life.

She said she has “fallen in love” with her “ride of a lifetime” challenge so much she is now making Australia her new goal.

With just her bike, tent, stove, and a few necessities, the 28-year-old has crossed European mountains, circled the Caspian Sea and crossed a variety of Asian countries including China and Kazakhstan.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster to be honest,” she said. “There have been so many different cultures, so many different landscapes from the desert to the massive mountains and then to the tropical rainforest.

“I went through countries I never expected to enter and I saw things I never thought I would. That’s all part of the adventure and the challenge.”

Esme Moore Esme Moore pictured from behind, riding her bike through a rugged and dusty mountain range. The winding path is made of gravel and there is a tall mountain stretching up in front of her. The sky is blue without any clouds. Esme Moore

Ms Moore followed winding dirt paths through the Pamir Mountain range in Tajikistan

She said the incredible hospitality she received on the road and the overwhelming kindness of strangers has made the journey so special.

“One thing any long distance cyclist will tell you is the number of invitations into people’s homes you receive,” she said.

“It reminds me that if everything breaks, if I don’t know what to do, if I run out of water – if there’s a person around, everything will be OK.”

Esme Moore A black tent set up beside a lake with bushes and mangroves dotted around in the water. Her black bike is leaning up against a tree next to the tent. The sky is bright white and the image looks very warm-toned.Esme Moore

Ms Moore set up camp in various beauty spots along the way, like this one in Si Phan Don, Laos

Mainly travelling alone through Turkey, Bulgaria and the “vast expanse of nothing” of the deserts of Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekista, Ms Moore said her bicycle tyres have held up well.

“I didn’t have any punctures for more than six months,” she said.

“The complete wheels are still the same and I’ve only changed my tyres twice.”

Esme Moore Esme Moore standing with one leg either side of her bike frame. She is wearing black cycling leggings, a black helmet and a yellow long-sleeved top, with her brown hair braided into French plaits. Behind her is a huge carved sculpture depicting a baby curled up and sleeping on its side. Esme Moore

Ms Moore visited this cultural sculpture in the Gobi Desert, carved from coarse red sandstone

Now, after a year on the road, she has reached her “original” goal of Singapore but said getting back to normal life is “going to be one of the hardest parts of the journey”.

“I’ve never spent more than a few days in one place and so to do that again will be a big shock to the system,” she said.

“My original goal was to cycle across Europe and continental Asia and get [to Singapore] but I’ve fallen in love with it and now Australia is the goal.”

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