– credit, Joel Chant / Platinum Live / SWNS
A father and son broke 3 world records after spending a year cycling around the world.
George Kohler and his 23-year-old son Josh set off on their mammoth challenge on March 29th, 2025, from their home near Norwich in the UK.
In total, the duo traveled 18,000 miles and 14 months as they crossed Asia, Australia, South America, and Europe, arriving, as Ivan Goncharov wrote, to the right of their front door, having departed to the left.
When they arrived home, the all-conquering pair were presented with world record certificates for the fastest bicycle circumnavigation, the longest bicycle journey, and the most countries visited in a continuous bicycle journey, by a father and son.
Josh spoke with Southwest News Service in the UK about their trip.
“There were thousands of highlights on this trip,” he said.
“One standout moment is when we were cycling through a remote part of Turkey. We heard a shout on the hillside, and a shepherd was standing, beckoning us over. We walked up to him, and he offered to share his breakfast with us.”
George and Josh in Australia – credit, Joel Chant / Platinum Live / SWNS
“He had a pot on the campfire. We had eggs, bread and cheese, and we sat there. We wouldn’t speak Turkish, and he couldn’t speak English, but we had this incredible interaction with him.”
The Kohlers started long-distance cycling voyages when Josh was in High school, going the distance of the UK in 2021, and coast-to-coast in the US in 2022.
“We had to learn to get our bodies used to doing long cycles.”
2 years later, Josh proposed to his 57-year-old dad that they should cycle around the world. His dad, George, a chimney sweep, had a simple response: “Perfect, why not?” The pair were on their way.
From their home, the pair headed to South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe before arriving home after 400 days.
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“We definitely had a full range of experience over the year,” Josh said. “Our bodies were tested day in day out, we were expecting the mental side of things to be tough as we anticipated long sprints.”
George and Josh Kohler with their Guinness World Records – credit, Joel Chant / Platinum Live / SWNS
“One thing we weren’t prepared for was the emotional challenges, when you are with someone for so long, disagreements do happen frequently. We had one unwritten rule that we would never go to sleep on an argument.”
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The duo said there were many highlights on the way, whether it was having lunch with a local in Serbia or being welcomed by monks offering them food and drink.
“The final day was extremely emotional seeing friends and family,” said George. “People that I haven’t seen for years and years were there to welcome us.”
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