Bicycle Stolen From Teen Attempting To Cycle Around The World

An 18-year-old British teen was attempting to ride his bicycle around the world when he hit a setback down under when someone stole all his things.

By on October 19, 2018
(Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Charlie Condell is an 18-year-old from the United Kingdom. He’s flying over the ocean obviously, and cycling on land. Charlie plans to be the youngest person to ride a bicycle around the world. That title is currently held by Tom Davies, another British man, who did the same in 2015 at 19. Charlie has just had a bit of a setback in his plans though, unfortunately.

So, he set off on his journey back in July. He planned on taking about 8 months to complete the route all around the world. He’s been cycling strong, and unassisted, since he started. Charlie has put in about 125 miles per day, and has been cycling for 100 days. He’s staying at various locations around hit route, hotels, hostels, families who take him in, etc. He’s already cycled across Europe and Asia, and had flown down to Australia to cross that continent too. That’s where the unfortunate theft happened.

In Queensland, he was staying in a hostel overnight. Charlie woke up the next morning only to find nothing around him. The spot where he had left his bike for the night was empty. At first, he says he thought someone had moved it. “You can never quite believe it – I thought maybe someone had moved it at first… But then I came to the sinking realisation that it was gone and I just had on my shirt and my board shorts and one bag,” Charlie said. His passport, some camping gear, and some spare equipment – all gone.

We’re assuming that he kept all that in the area where he was sleeping, and someone got in and took it that way. Not sure what sort of hostel it is, but they’re sometimes a sort of “community space.” If you’re passed out sleeping, someone could just walk up and grab your things. A very unfortunate thing to happen, and I can’t imagine how helpless I would feel if it happened to me. Charlie says that locals have already offered him some clothes and supplies, and even another bike, too. People can be great! Here’s some more information on his journey.

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