Seasoned cyclist takes a break in Rotorua

When Greg Valenzuela was made redundant from his job, he figured there was no better time to follow his dreams.

With no wife, no children and no money owing to anyone he decided to grab his bike and hit the road. That was two years, and about 42,000km ago.

The 48-year-old has been cycling his way around the world and yesterday spent time in Rotorua as part of his cycling expedition.

From Southern California, he's so far cycled the perimeter of the United States of America, down through Central America to Nicaragua, around Thailand, through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, and most recently spent the past few weeks cycling around New Zealand.

Some days, his routes are decided through a flip of a coin as he makes his way around the world.

He admits it isn't as glamorous as it sounds - and said it was often hard, dirty work and could be difficult juggling the finances.

"I go under the handle 'The Starving Cyclist'. I'm doing it on as much of a shoestring as I can to make it happen."

Mr Valenzuela said he got by doing as little work as he could, and doing affiliate marketing through his website to help earn a few dollars.

"If I can do it with that amount of money anyone can."

He doesn't do a lot of planning - only really booking airline tickets.

New Zealand was always on the wish list of places to travel to because it was such a cycling mecca.

"When you talk to other cyclists one of the highlights, the stars in their eyes, is New Zealand."

He said the biggest shock during his first few days in New Zealand was the cost of everything - something made more noticeable after coming from Asia where items were much cheaper.

He said while he'd heard a lot about how beautiful the South Island was, he wanted people to know the North Island was "just as spectacular".

Mr Valenzuela said he had no regrets at all after packing up his life and hitting the road.
"I can't think of any place I've gone that I've have regretted - even Central America which was quite dodgy."

In fact, his only regret, if you can call it that, was missing the weather window to be able to bike through Mongolia and into China. That, however, is one of the next places on the wishlist.