I had resolved on a voyage around the world, and as the wind on the morning of April 24, 1895 was fair, at noon I weighed anchor, set sail, and filled away from Boston, where the Spray had been moored snugly all winter.

S. G. Spier, who claims the championship for long-distance riding, arrived in this city on last Thursday evening at 9 o’clock. His principal reason for traversing the continent on a bicycle was to beat the world’s record, made by Thomas Stevens in 1884. Mr. Spier is 22 years old, stands five feet eight inches, and weighs 150 pounds. He came overland on a 52-inch wheel.

En 2008 Morgan, étudiant à Grenoble INP – Génie industriel annonce à ses amis qu’il prépare un voyage autour du monde à vélo, pour une durée d’environ 3 ans. Siphay, ami de longue date, à ce moment là saisonnier en station de ski, répond à la nouvelle avec enthousiasme. Il veut se joindre à l’aventure ! Brian, ami d’enfance des deux compères et étudiant à Toulouse INP-ENSIACET, propose de les rejoindre sur la route, le temps de se convaincre qu’il s’agit d’une expérience exceptionnelle à ne pas rater.

One can only really travel if one lets oneself go and takes what every place brings without trying to turn it into a healthy private pattern of one's own and I suppose that is the difference between travel and tourism.
 Freya Stark (Cited in Molly Izzard, A Marvellous Eye, Cornucopia Issue 2)