PRESS REPORT
Calgary Herald	August 7, 2003
World Lures Travelling Man
By DEBORAH TETLEY Calgary Herald

Richard Gregg's bicycle has taken him to 38 countries.

He saw a little boy get run over by a car in Pakistan and has torn a ligament in his knee after falling down a manhole in Kashmir--where in an unrelated incident, he also encountered sporadic automatic gunfire that endured through the night.

He has had a beer bottle thrown under his bicycle tires in Australia and wheeled through Hong Kong at the same time the British returned it to China. He has stared down assault rifles during confrontations with military platoons at international border check-points, fell in love in Laos and got married--twice to the same woman.

It's been close to 13 years since Richard Gregg embarked in a solo around-the-world bicycle odyssey from his home in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, at the ambitious age of 26.

"The reasons multiply as I keep doing it," he said this week during a stop in Calgary. "The more I see, the more I see that I want to see. And the more I know, the more I know that I don't know."

Despite the odd hiccup in a journey that has taken him more than 40,000 kilometers across 38 countries and five continents, his adventure has been largely misfortune-free.

Yes, he's had his bike stolen, at least crucial parts of it. And he was forced to quit travelling to earn a living by teaching English for about two years. He's also learned to live on a shoe-string budget, at one point cajoling a sea captain in Fiji into allowing him passage to San Francisco The two-week trip by container ship cost just $86.50 US.

Yet, despite the enjoyment global travel has afforded him, Gregg's trip will wind down in the coming months.

He hopes to spend more time with his wife, Haruyo Sugimoto, whom he met at a bus station in Laos in 1998.

The couple pursued the relationship in Malaysia, met in Indonesia and Singapore, were engaged in Australia, married in New Zealand and at another ceremony in Japan in 2000, where he vowed to his new bride he'd be finished his journey by the end of 2003.

It doesn't look like that's going to happen now until months later. Still remaining on his places-to-see checklist are Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty, Vermont in the fall, New England, the Amazon, the Andes, Rio... "It's out of my hands," Gregg says of the promise he made to himself to rest only when there was nowhere left in the world for him to explore. " I've made so many promises to myself to never give up, to keep going."

The couple look forward to sharing quarters on the same continent, and to having children. "My next great adventure will be raising a family, if we have the ability to do so," he says. "Relationships are a big part of your life and I'm not alone anymore. I have to make some decisions based on what my wife feels and try and find a way where we can create adventures together." Gregg arrived in Calgary on July 16 but became restless after only a few days, left his bike with a friend, hiked to Yellowknife to learn to kayak.

Before he sets foot to pedal and leaves Calgary on Saturday, Gregg plans to do a bit of sightseeing. He's also been invited to present a slide show to residents at the Chinook Care Center Friday. Some of these pictures may be unveiled at an art gallery in Osaka, Japan, as part of an upcoming exhibition. A book of Gregg's experiences is in the works. While not many people cycle the world, there are those who ride for a cause.. Some cycle for cancer cures, others diabetes. Gregg cycles to cure his souL satiate his appetite for adventure and see the world. "The world is a beautiful place, and I hope it stays that way," he says.