Round-the-world cyclist does 1,000-mile book tour by bike – on £7.65 a day to highlight living wage (+ video)

Julian Sayerer, the London-based former bicycle courier turned author who set an unofficial world record for circumnavigating the world by bike in 2009, is undertaking a  book tour with a difference – he’s riding 1,000 miles between 12 venues across the UK while trying to survive on £7.65 a day, the same as the hourly living wage.

In his book, Life Cycles, Sayarer recounts the story of his round-the-world trip and in his words, “tried to tell a story of ordinary people whose lives I pedalled through, often mentioning the difficulties of lives that could be made better by better politics.”

The book tour, which started in Brighton on 18th September and has seen Sayarer so far visit venues in Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich, Leicester, Sheffield and York, is being held in partnership with the Living Wage Foundation, which campaigns for a “living wage” of £7.65 an hour, compared to the national minimum wage, from 1 October, of £6.50 for people aged 21 and over.

He hopes to raise £10,000 for the Living Wage Foundation through the tour,  which he says will enable it to pay a member of staff to accredit new employers signing up to the living age initiative, and donations can be made here.

Sayarer has also been working alongside a collective on a 20-minute documentary, Changing Gears, which follows five youngsters from London as they cycle to Brighton.

He says: “Having never met and with only really bicycles in common, the film was an effort to show the difficulties life in a city can put upon young people, and the positive role bicycles play in their lives, not least in breaking down social divisions.

“The film was made as a pilot project, and we're currently talking to broadcasters, charities and film festivals about how to take its ideas further. Producers we spoke to were interested in my history in cycling around the world, and so I feature as the ride leader.”

Changing Gears from Bruna Martini on Vimeo.

Remaining dates on the book tour are Manchester (Wednesday 1 October), Chester (Thursday 2 October), Ross-on-Wye (Tuesday 7 October), Bristol (Thursday 9 October) and Exeter (Wednesday 15 October). More details, including venues, can be found here.