Juan Francisco Guillermo, a Chilean cyclist, almost completed a global cycling record when he was killed in Thailand.
Picture: Bangkok Post
He overcame 795 flats, 328 tubes and 120,000 km, but could not overcome a bad driver. Guillermo was attempting to set a Guinness World Record by cycling 250,000 km (155,350 miles) in five continents in five years. He would have finished his global quest in November this year.
The 47-year-old died doing what he loved.
He was being followed by his wife and two-year-old son but they were not injured.
I recently crossed Thailand on my way around the world, so I can confirm roads and traffic are extremely dangerous. Congestion and reckless driving are not uncommon on the country’s roads and thoroughfares.
“Guillermo and his family had made a rest stop at a police checkpoint in Khon Kaen’s Phon district on Saturday morning before heading off to Nakhon Ratchasima with the bicycle pulling a carriage. Before they left the checkpoint, Guillermo told a policeman he would later travel to Australia,” the Bangkok Post reported.
“The accident happened when a speeding pickup truck driven by Tiwarat Ratchaipidet, aged 64, scraped the bicycle on the roadside. The cyclist was thrown from the bicycle and died on the spot.”
Picture: Bangkok Post
In 2013, a British couple on a similar round-the-world quest was killed in a road accident in eastern Thailand.
I am a firefighter on a global circumnavigation by bicycle for cancer research. I have covered 1/2 of the Earth and hope to cross Australia in 2015 Look forward to any Australians contacting me.
Follow my progress at www,firefightercycle.com
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