Round-the-world cyclist update: 111 days so far, 19,065 miles so far, 58 days to go

Intrepid round-the-world charity cyclist James Bowthorpe is now in Canada after a quick blast around New Zealand  - once he’d discovered that flights to Vancouver from NZ only went three times a week.

New Zealand, he reported, was sunny but cold and although he was constantly hitting his 120 miles a day target he found the mountainous terrain – as opposed to the flat lands of western and south Australia that he’d recently travelled through – somewhat daunting.

On July 11 he spent a full 15 hours on the road. “Even Lance Armstrong,” he noted, “would call that a long day.” However, he’s been keeping up with messages of support and those really spurred him on over some of the trickier stages of the NZ leg.

The cold was becoming something of a problem, and because he knew he had to make a flight James began to get up earlier in order to put more time in the saddle. As he cycled past a newsagents’ shop, he saw a newspaper billboard that said, “"Hit and Run Cyclist Will Never Ride Again.” It made him extra careful that day, even though he was beginning to feel very tired. “I'm in danger of falling asleep at the wheel,” he Tweeted. “I get lots of thinking time doing this: I just invented a new type of fridge this a'noon. Anyone got anything need thought?”

On July 15 he made his flight to Vancouver and, due to the time difference, arrived on the same day after a business class upgrade and a lot of sleep. Out on the road a day later he saw his first black bear, “male I think. He looked a bit bemused by the cyclist! Really beautiful animal.” Let’s hope you can outcycle him, eh James?!

James is doing this ride to raise money and awareness for research into Parkinson's disease. The total raised so far is £44,948.38 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.