Cycling across Brazil

My longest cycle tour before this was 5 days, whilst this journey would be 5 months, and 5,000 miles was an incomprehensible distance to cover! So I just thought about city to city and day to day, which always gave me something and somewhere to look forward to...
Who are you
Andy 'Smudger' Smith

The Challenge
Cycling across Brazil 

How long did it take
4.5 months

What was the distance
8,000km

How much did it cost
Not sure but not that much
One Life Cycling across Brazil
What was it like

Incrível, surpreendente, fantástico (incredible, surprising, fantastic). To be honest when I walked through security at Heathrow Airport to go and board the plane to Brazil I felt terrified of what lay ahead, mainly because I didn't really have a clue what lay ahead, but that feeling quickly developed into huge excitement and from the moment I arrived in Porto Alegre things could not really have gone any better in this wonderful and fascinating country.

My longest cycle tour before this was 5 days, whilst this journey would be 5 months, and 5,000 miles was an incomprehensible distance to cover! So I just thought about city to city and day to day, which always gave me something and somewhere to look forward to - what would I see, who would I meet, what unexpected challenges and experiences would occur?! And all of those things meant that every day I woke up really looking forward to the travel ahead, even when I was tired and hot and a bit lonely, I loved cycle touring through unknown (to me) landscapes and discovering the real Brazil way off the typical tourist path. 

 And that was always the idea, yes I went there for the football World Cup, but I wanted to explore at cycle speed and try to gain some understanding this continental-sized nation before the droves of footy fans and media arrived in June. Of course every travel journey is unique, but I love that no-one else will ever be able to replicate my trip, because only when I did it was Brazil preparing to host such a massive event in its history that spanned its geography (12 host cities country-wide), its culture (everyone knows all Brazilian people truly love football) and, as I found out, it's politics (most people I met were against the amount of public money spent on building the stadiums "when we need better schools and hospitals instead").
One Life Cycling across Brazil
It's a divided nation in so many ways, but ultimately all that mattered was that regardless of their circumstances, the people I met were fantastic, friendly and even proud that this 'gringo' would come to their city/town/village and tell people back in the UK about all the good things I found in Brazil. 

I can't thank the local people enough for their support, which even included cars stopping on the highway to say hi and take photos with me and their families on the hard shoulder! Also, the British Consulates and Embassy teams were superb, which culminated in me visiting one stadium alongside the British Ambassador and also attending special receptions prior to each England match where I met various famous names to tell them about my #SambaCycle, including Prince Harry! 

It just showed me that if you put yourself out there to do something good - did I mention this was all to raise awareness and donations for two excellent charities - and take on a challenge that you're passionate about, then it's incredible how unexpected doors can open and leave you with an experience that's greater than you could ever have imagined.
One Life Cycling across Brazil
How did you train 

Plenty of road and indoor cycling, plus some gym work and pilates for core strength.

Any other useful tips / links 

Tips = go to Brazil, it's amazing!

Links below...