ADVENTURER Mark Beaumont has fought off a mugger who tried to rob him during a rest stop during his gruelling cycle across the length of Africa.

 

The Scot is on week four of his 6,200 mile journey from Cairo to Cape Town and on course to smash the current Guinness World Record of 59 days and eight hours.

Starting from Egypt, Beaumont's journey has taken him through Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya, but during his ride across Tanzania this week he was confronted by a man who thought he was easy pickings as he stopped by the side of the road for lunch.

Beaumont said: "I haven't had any trouble so far on the journey, and this was the first time anyone had given me any bother.

"I had stopped to get something to eat and a man approached me, saying he wanted money. I think he saw a white guy and just assumed I would have cash.

"He was pretty small and had been drinking, so when he grabbed me I just twisted his arm and he let go. Then another couple of guys came over and he ran off.

"It wasn't nice and it's coloured my views of Tanzania a little bit. Which is a shame because it's been a marvellous country so far."

Beaumont's journey has so far covered more than 4,200 miles as he battles his way across the continent enduring downpours, steep climbs and broken, badly paved roads.

Despite being hampered by a cold and upset stomach, he's managed to hit his target of 150 miles a day and says that he hopes the going will get easier as he heads towards his destination in South Africa.

Heavy rain in Ethiopia meant he had to cycle through mud and dodge construction work combined, and also deal with a number of punctures along the way.

He said: "For an elite rider, 150 miles a day isn't really anything but in these sort of conditions its just not sustainable. It's hard on your body and you just yearn for a rest.

"There's also been a lot of hills in Tanzania, and the climbs have been tough. As I head into Zambia and onto Botswana it gets flatter so I'm hoping things even out a bit.

"On a good day with the wind behind me I've done 170 miles, but on other days its been really hard to hit the pace I need to go."

Each day has followed a similar pattern, and he has been eating from whatever he can buy from roadside vendors on the road. Last week he stayed in a hotel for a night, which he said was "touristy" but a welcome relief from the hardship of the road.

He said: "I get up at 5.30am and am on the bike by 6.30am. Then I ride all day until I get to 6.30pm. I have to find somewhere safe to sleep, then I get up and do it all over again.

"These are big, big days and you have to keep focussed because there's a long way still to go."

In northern Kenya, an area plagued with unrest, Beaumont had to be accompanied by an armed escort on the 300-mile stretch from Moyale at the Kenyan border to the town of Isiolo.

But the encounter with the mugger in Tanzania has been the only moment of danger so far.

The 32-year-old, who has previously cycled around the world and across the Americas, has so far raised more than £30,000 for Orkidstudio, a Glasgow-based humanitarian architecture charity.

He is using Twitter to update people of his progress, using the hashtag #Africasolo.

The trip is his first since since 2012 when a world record attempt to row across the Atlantic Ocean came to an abrupt end when his boat capsized.