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Gearing up for world tour
An intrepid cyclist is hoping to whizz into the record books by cycling across the globe in 20 months.
Avijit Chakraborty wheeled into Sheffield on his trusty racer bike as part of his mammoth trip across 58 countries.
The 33-year-old marine set off from his home city of Calcutta after receiving exceptional leave for the trip from the Indian government.
Armed with just a few clothes, a small tent, and some food, Avijit is already nearly a third of the way through his trip.
Avijit is stopping along the way at schools to give talks about the importance of recycling and protecting the environment.
He said: "I have a lot of friends of friends who are letting me stay their homes, but otherwise I've been camping in the grounds of local police stations.
"Sheffield seems like a very nice place, but my best experience so far has been in Spain. I was cycling into Barcelona and a group of people stopped to ask me for money.
"When they realised I was from the same part of India as them, there attitude changed and they were very interested in my trip and even bought me a meal!" Avijit will now cycle to London before catching a plane to LA for the next segment of his journey.
He added: "My worst experience was when the police found some glucose powder and thought it was drugs, I was taken to a police station but soon allowed to go on my way."
From America, Avijit will continue his journey, taking in Canada, South America, Africa, Sudam, Eygpt and Jordan.
He will then travel to New Zealand, Australia, Japan and China before finishing in Vietnam.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
