Round-the-world cyclist update: 118 days so far, 11111 miles so far, 51 days to go

Now, can it be a coincidence that since intrepid round-the-world cyclist James Bowthorpe started pedalling around the North American continent, he’s been eating some hefty meals – followed by a succession of punctures?

Well, it would be unfair of us at road.cc to comment but James does seem to be living well, putting the burritos away as he heads down the west coast of the United States. As he said on Twitter, it was lucky that he only ordered one….

Bike-related problems have plagued him since he landed in Canada and made his way southwards, the most annoying being a series of punctures. A quick call-in at a bike shop found him walking out with a Schwalbe tyre and some good advice about cycling in North America.

He then set off again in the direction of Seattle but ‘a ghost in the machine’ – an annoying slow puncture – became a persistent irritation. Perhaps this is a clue…. “I used metal file on my Leatherman for 1st time ever,” he Tweeted, “filing down suspicious peak on rear rim.” He also found the time to buy a heavy duty inner tube and as he cycled away he crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

James is doing this ride to raise money and awareness for research into Parkinson's disease. The total raised so far is £45,673.38 towards his goal of raising £1.8m. If you want to support James in his quest you can donate at his site www.globecycle.org, you can also follow his progress via live GPS updates at www.whereintheworldisjames.com (James has attached lots of pictures to the route too so that it is very much more than a line on a map) and he also has his own video channel on Youtube.