Around the world on a wooden bike: British rider’s post-heart-condition adventure begins

Tom Williamson is just about to head off on a 1-2 year around the world cycling trip just months after a heart procedure, and here’s the wooden bike from Zafi that he’ll be riding.

We’ll leave the bike for a bit and come back to it later because you need to know about Tom Williamson first. He’s 32 years old, based in Surbiton, Surrey, and he’s had an eventful few years.

“I started cycling when I was working in Italy for the summer [in 2019],” says Tom. “I wanted a way to explore and I bought a Bianchi Aria road bike. I didn’t have time to research too much and I didn’t know much about bikes, so I just got stuck in and went for it was a great purchase.”

He got a taste for cycling and things escalated. The next thing you know, he’s setting off on his first bike packing trip with a friend: Land’s End to John O’Groats.

“I was excited and nervous, but didn’t know if I was going to be strong enough,” he says. “After day one, I felt really, really strong and didn’t know why I had been worried. I was flying up the Cornish hills.”

Sadly, things took a turn.

“We left Oakhampton [Devon] on day two, and I was feeling good in the morning, and then in the afternoon, I started to have issues with my heart,” he says.

Gulp!

“It kept slowing us down. I was trying to act cool because I didn’t know what it was at the time and I didn’t want to show that I was too weak. How was I going to get to Scotland if I couldn’t even cope on day two?

“This probably helped me, because it meant I was relatively calm, but it just got got worse and worse and I ended up passing out. I got to the end of the day’s route by taxi.

“By this time, it was a bit late and dark, and then we went and got something to eat. I thought I would see how I was in the morning.

“I felt fine again and carried on, but the same thing happened on day three. I spent two nights in hospital, and then that started off the journey.”

The journey? It took medics a couple of years to work out what was going on.

“I had two years of uncertainty where they were trying to figure out what was going on, because I was having symptoms, but they couldn’t find the issue,” says Tom. “Naturally, this caused a lot of uncertainty, and all possibilities were on the table. It could be nothing but it could be something serious.

“I was eventually diagnosed with a non-life-threatening form of SVT [supraventricular tachycardia]. Mine was apparently a rare presentation, which made it harder to detect and treat.”

Long story short short, Tom ended up having three procedures.

“I finally had a successful ablation in June 2025,” Tom says. “It’s a routine heart procedure in general terms, but mine was more complex because of the unusual presentation.”

Now he’s preparing to head off around the world, partly in aid of Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

“Before I had the condition, I had just bought this gravel bike, and I was seeing this future of exploration,” says Tom. “Then I found out I had it, and I felt like all these dreams had been taken away from me.

“I still went away to lots of destinations during the time that I had the condition. I was able to go within my limits as much as possible. And I definitely pushed them, probably a tad too far at times, but I did take a step back.”

That said, Tom has already ridden in Greece, North Macedonia, India, China, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia, USA and Thailand.

“Now I’ve got the motivation to raise as much money as possible for Cardiac Risk in the Young and I really feel connected with their mission, which is about awareness of unknown cardiac issues, screening – capturing those people who aren’t aware so they’re now aware – and then through extra research and supporting bereaved families who have sadly been affected with it.

“I could potentially have been one of those people with an undiagnosed heart condition who died. I felt like that was me. The difference was that I didn’t die. I feel really connected to the charity. I feel really motivated to use this as an opportunity to raise money for them.”

Tom is heading off in June.

“I have a have a plan, but it’s also fluid,” says Tom. “Flexibility is built in, and the route isn’t my main concern although I know where I’m going to start and end each leg.”

He’ll be heading over to France, then up to see Zafi in Belgium, across Germany and over to see custom saddle provider Posedla in the Czech Republic, then through Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, into Bulgaria and then onto Turkey where he hopes to meet up with his parents for a while.

“How I get through Turkey is undefined but I’ll finish in Georgia, and then fly from Tbilisi over to the Stans,” says Tom. “It’ll be Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, then back into Kazakhstan.

“Then I’ll start my China leg, going all the way through China, down into Vietnam, and then I’m going to head through Laos to Cambodia. I might spend a few weeks off the bike in Cambodia, doing some volunteering with a company that offers bike tours, which will be really cool.”

Then it’ll be around the Gulf of Thailand into Malaysia and then Singapore.

“I’ll then fly to Jakarta, Indonesia, through Indonesia to the island of Java, to Bali. I’ll fly from Bali to Perth, and then ride Perth to Sydney. The main aim is to get to Sydney, anything else from there is a massive bonus.”

Anything else? What does that mean?

“If I have the time, budget, morale and everything else, I would love to go to New Zealand as well, and then even less likely, but in the depths of my plan, right at the back, is USA. That’s highly unlikely, but…”

And a timescale for all this?

“Over a year, and less than two,” says Tom. “I’ve got an undefined time because I will leave my job [in the UK], so it’s dictated mainly by budget and morale, but less than two years.”

It’s essentially going to be a solo mission.

“If you want to do something like this, you’ve got to not mind your own company,” he says. “If you’re someone who struggles on their own, this is not for you.

“I don’t mind riding on my own, and that’s going to be the bulk of it. But at the same time, I’m not averse to linking up with people, especially when you’re in less populated areas and you want to share the moment. Also, if there are less safe areas, going with someone else is probably better, and I’ll possibly have some friends come out as well.

“There are lots of WhatsApp groups for riding around the world, and they’re very active. If you wanted to find someone to ride with in there, it wouldn’t be hard.”

Final thing before we get to the bike: where does Tom intend to sleep?

“This is a big test because I’m not someone who’s camped loads before,” he says. “All the bike packing I’ve done before is what I would call ‘posh packing’ – staying in a hotel or similar. Even if it’s a basic hotel, I’ve had somewhere to wash and charge.

“ Here, the priority will be to get hosted for free as much as possible using warmshowers.org.

“I will sometimes stay in a hostel, basic hotel or whatever to recharge physically and mentally – and to recharge all my devices too.

“I’ll also be camping in my one man tent because the cost of staying somewhere will be too much.”

The wooden bike

Onto the bike, then. At the heart of things is a wooden frame from Belgium’s Zafi.

“You get a reasonable amount of attention from cycling with a packed bike, and those conversations can take you to some unique places,” says Tom. “I wanted to add to that by having a bike that is really different to increase the chances of those conversations starting, and then unique experiences will come from that.

“I also wanted something unique online. I’m not the first to do this kind of ride and I won’t be the last, so I wanted something different. From a social media perspective, it gets people’s attention. I’ve got a social media strategy that I’m going to follow, and I wanted to really bring the story to life.

“There’s the sustainability factor too. This bike is highly sustainable because all the materials for the frame are sourced within Belgium, and supporting European manufacturing was another factor for me.”

In fact, most of the components are from Europe too.

“Simon [Malvaux, founder of Zafi Cycles] and I aimed to make the whole bike from European-manufactured components.

“We wanted to keep that as our main goal to add to the talkability and the uniqueness, and just to see if we could do it, and we have come very close.

“This became less of a priority once time was running out and costs were going up, but I would say that 90% is European manufactured. The only things that aren’t are the Shimano derailleur, shifters and brakes. Oh, and the bottom bracket is American. Apart from that, everything else is European manufactured, not just from a European brand. That’s pretty good. We’re very proud of that.”

The carbon gravel fork – with space for tyres up to 47mm, integrated dynamo routing and mounting points for bags or racks – comes from Sample Maker of France and, as mentioned, the saddle is from Posedla. The Joyseat is 3D-printed and fully custom. It even has “Cycling_Tom” on it.

Poland’s Dandy Horse has provided custom GRX 40 carbon gravel wheels built specifically for the trip. The front wheel uses a DT Swiss dynamo hub (24 hole straight-pull spokes) to power lights and electronics for off-grid riding, while the rear has been reinforced for expedition use with a 28-spoke pattern, classic rear hub with J-bend spokes, and butted Sapim Race spokes for added strength and serviceability on a long-distance ride.

USE has provided the cockpit setup, including a VYBE suspension stem and a VYBE suspension seatpost with 50mm of tuneable travel, and the lights come from Exposure.

Tom is going with a drivetrain from Garbaruk Components, a Ukrainian company that has recently moved to Poland. He has specced a 38T chainring and 165mm cranks, matched up to an 11–46T cassette, chosen for climbing range and reliability.

Carrying cargo is also hugely important when you’re riding around the world.

“It’s a full Tailfin set up,” says Tom. “We’ve got the Fork Packs (10L). We’ve got the Bar Bag set up. We’ve got the 3L Frame bag, 1.5L Top Tube Bag. We’ve got the 18L CargoPack with two 22L panniers so there’s more than enough space. My main concern is extra food and water for those legs where I’m away from resupply.

“There has never been a better time than today for bike packing equipment. It’s just a joke how good it is in terms of the mounting system. Everything is so easy. It’s very, very impressive, and I’ll get to test whether it lasts over the long haul. I just need to finesse the packing.”

Tom will be heading off in early June so he has a little while to get that right.

“I was worried when I had this idea: do I really want to be doing that at this age? Is it a good idea? It was a big decision. I’m leaving a comfortable job and a comfortable setup and putting myself into the unknown.

“People don’t want to put themselves in uncertain situations naturally, but now it has come round, it doesn’t feel like that at all; it feels super-right.”

You can follow Tom’s adventures on Instagram and Strava. He’s cycling_tom on both. You can donate to Cardiac Risk in the Young via Tom’s Just Giving page.