Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo by Mark Horrell

Feet and Wheels to Chimborazo by Mark Horrell

His cheeks are as tender as raw meat on a butcher's block. And those are just the cheeks of his face. As he slumps in the saddle, watching the road disappear into the distance, he aches in parts of his body that he's only just discovering he has.

When Mark travels to Ecuador to go hiking and climbing, he discovers a land of dramatic volcanoes rising through the clouds and wide-open horizons rich in history.

But when his partner Edita suggests a return visit, she has a very different adventure in mind: to cycle across the Andes and complete a unique sea-to-summit challenge by climbing the highest mountain starting from sea level.

It will be an intrepid world first (or so they think). But there's just one problem - Mark can barely cycle over a road bridge without getting off to push.

With a month to train, they rent some bikes and head to Scotland to cycle the North Coast 500. Will this be enough to prepare them for an epic adventure to climb a mountain that in one respect is the highest in the world?

Mark Horrell has been writing what has been called one of the most reliable Everest opinion blogs out there for many years. He writes about trekking and mountaineering from the standpoint of the commercial client, which is often overlooked. He has been traveling the world's main mountain ranges and keeping a journal of his journeys for nearly 20 years. He wants to accomplish for mountain history what Bill Bryson done for long-distance hiking as a novelist. W.E. Smith's The Ascent of Rum Doodle is his favorite climbing novel.