In a journey that saw him cross the great plains of Siberia and the Great Wall of China, the 27-year-old Web designer also encountered a rich assortment of people and experiences before reaching the last border, Lo Wu, this week.

He was welcomed to Hong Kong by British Consul General Stephen Brad-ley, whose staff had prepared some Devon cream tea - a treat from Genochio's home county - a bottle of champagne and sandwiches to celebrate the achievement. ``My legs may probably start kicking up and down again tomorrow morning as they have been every day,'' he said as he enjoyed a cheese and pickle sandwich on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront.

``I cheated for about four kilometers as I had to use the train to get from Lo Wu to Sheung Shui,'' joked Genochio, who later pointed to the 20,000-plus figure on his bicycle's distance counter.

Starting his journey in March last year from his hometown of Exeter, Genochio rode from England, through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Siberia, Mongolia and China.

His original final stop was Shanghai, but he extended his trip by 2,000 kilometers to reach his planned 20,000kilometer distance, he said. He hopes to raise US$20,000 (HK$156,000) for two charities for the disabled - the Wheelchair Foundation and the CereCare Wellness Center for Children.

Riding halfway around the world has been his dream but it took time and patience to convince others cycling was all he was really doing. On one occasion, he said, he was arrested and interrogated by Russian federal security officials who at first suspected he was a drug smuggler. ``Maybe I was riding too close to the Khazak border or I looked a bit like a terrorist at the time,'' he said. ``I was interrogated for 24 hours.''

While in Mongolia he was awakened to find his bicycle had been stolen. ``It was the middle of the night. I was awakened by the sound of my tent being ripped. When I scrambled out the bike was not there but I heard a distant sound of horses galloping over the hillside,'' he said. He later obtained another bicycle from a British company.

Although the idea of traveling halfway around the world on a bicycle had been on his mind for 10 years, he said one thing had motivated him. ``I awoke one morning and thought: `When you want to do something, you either do it or stop thinking about it. You can't keep saying maybe,''' he said. ``It is something I won't forget in a hurry. I made up my mind there and then.''

dennis.chong@globalchina.com