How cycling around the world taught Geordie Stewart the true meaning of freedom

Eight years after becoming the youngest Briton to conquer the seven summits, Geordie Stewart has added another feather to his hat. From escaping police in Xinjiang to freezing temperatures in Siberia, the adventurer tells Joel Day what he learnt from his solo cycling trip around the world

‘On a bike, you see things slowed down’ (Photography by Geordie Stewart)

It is December 2018. Winter in Xinjiang, China, is at its peak. Daily temperatures average -20C. The slimy grey road is bordered by piles of grey slush. Fences topped with tightly coiled barbed wire tower over either side of the highway. Geordie Stewart is far from his sleepy Hampshire village.

Cycling through the border town of Tacheng, he has already been stopped five, six, seven times by Chinese police. It is only midday. On one of the highways, he sees a break, turns and veers onto a side road. Within minutes, using the thousands of surveillance cameras dotted around the area, the police have caught up with him. “Turn around. Get back on the road!” they shout. He submits and is again channelled onto the grey road that goes on forever. It is in this stint of the journey Stewart asks himself: “What am I doing here?”

Night falls and escaping the authorities he finds a spot to camp under a bridge. It is cold, he is alone and knows the police are looking for him. This is his life for three weeks as he cycles across a region of total scrutiny. For the Uighur Muslims who make up around 10 million of Xinjiang’s 22 million people, this is reality. He settles in the darkness of his tent and reads the last lines of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”.