Accomplishing this feat inspired him to make other epic cycling trips over the years, including multiple treks across Europe, North America and Africa. He broke three Guinness World Records in the process.

You might think Paul would be satiated at this point, but it turns out all of that long-distance cycling merely whetted his appetite. He now plans on going all the way around the world, pedaling across almost every continent (except Australia and Antarctica) along with the stretches of ocean in between.

Spencer will be raising funds for the Lupus Foundation during his Pedal Round The World journey, while also attempting to set a new Guinness Record for the Fastest Human-Powered Circumnavigation of the Globe. While the current record stands at five years and 11 days, he hopes to make the trip in about three years.

"Riding a bike lets you see the world up close," he tells us. "People, moments, small details you'd never notice at speed."

But let's back up a bit … how is he going to pedal across all that open water? Well, he'll be using a one-of-a-kind ocean-going trimaran pedal boat known as the Pedal Beast.

Previously named the Tasman Rower, the 38-ft (11.6-m) carbon-fiber-bodied craft was originally designed by New Zealand company LOMOcean Marine Ltd in 2012, and was built by fellow Kiwi firm Pachoud Yachts. And yes, as the boat's name suggests, it started out as a rowboat.

Plans had called for it to be used for a record-breaking crossing of the Tasman Strait (aka Bass Strait) between Australia and Tasmania, although the trip was cancelled due to rower injury. In fact, LOMOcean designed a similar rowboat – the Samson – which was intended to make a transatlantic crossing which also never happened.

The Tasman Rower ended up in need of a new home, and it caught Spencer's eye on the LOMOcean website. He traveled to New Zealand in 2019 and met with Craig Loomes, director of LOMOcean and designer of the watercraft.

Loomes informed him that not only was the Tasman Rower a very good candidate for a pedal-drive conversion, but that pedal drive would be a better way to go than rowing for circumnavigating the globe.