A prolific adventurer and self-confessed adrenaline junkie is setting himself yet another gruelling challenge.

Three years ago Jeremy Reed covered 2,500 miles on a cycle ride from Newport to Newport, via John O’Groats and Lands End.

He has now set off to go one better. The start is from his home, in Newport, once again and the end destination is, once again, Newport ... but in Australia.

Jeremy told the Reporter: “We are only on this planet once so we might as well do some challenging things, not just sit on the sofa watching television, vegetating – that’s not for me.

“I could do it by flying everywhere and staying in nice hotels, but then you don’t get to really see the people or the places.

“The great thing about cycling is it makes it easier for you to stop and admire the things you are seeing. You don’t have to find somewhere to park your car, or worry about the people behind, you just stop.”

The 59-year-old is aiming to cycle between 60 to 70 miles a day and is expecting his adventure to take a year.

During the evenings he will be mainly camping in countries where he does not speak the language or know the culture.

By the end he would have covered 15,800 miles on his bike and travelled through a vast number of countries including, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.

He has been building a library of essential information and advice for both the route and the countries he will be pedalling through.

The father-of-two will also be raising money for SOS Children’s Villages, an international charity with a UK office in Cambridge, which helps the world’s most vulnerable children and families. It works to keep families together, provide health care and find homes for orphans.

“When I was looking into this I knew I wanted to do something for children because they are always the ones who suffer,” explained Jeremy, who also completed a round the world yacht race in 2009.

“Several of the countries I am going to have SOS Children’s Villages so I will be able to go and see the work they do.”

Jeremy set off from his home yesterday (Wednesday) and hopes to complete the trip in Melbourne by next April.

The former media consultant will be documenting his journey on his blog, justpoppingoutforacycleride.wordpress.com. A link to his JustGiving page can be found on there as well.