Cycling to The Ashes

In 2009, dissatisfied with a career as a London-based chartered surveyor, Oli Broom quit his job, bought a bike and cycled to Australia to watch the Ashes cricket series. It took 412 days.

A book followed: Cycling to the Ashes: A Cricketing Odyssey from London to Brisbane was called ‘marvellous’ by Stephen Fry, while The Cricketer magazine said it was ‘a moving, well-paced and thrilling story.’ Ian Botham said he thought it was pathetic that Oli didn’t cycle home again.

When he did get home (by plane), Oli became the first Project Director of the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation, so he was off again, this time to live in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. He spent two happy years there before returning home to launch The Slow Cyclist, a bicycle travel company that offers journeys to Transylvania.