December 29, 2025 - (Barrie, Ontario) Mark Herbst, 69, from Barrie, Ontario, has “unofficially” become the oldest man to cycle around the world, in honour of his wife Jackie, and to raise money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation reports the Toronto Star.
After battling cancer for seven years, Jackie died on Dec. 28, 2021 and Herbst searched for something that could give him motivation and meaning. In the spring of 2024, after reading the books of Mark Beaumont and Jenny Graham, the fastest man and woman to cycle around the globe, he checked if there was a record for the oldest person to circumnavigate the world on a bike.
“There was, and at that time, the guy was only 56,” Herbst told the Star. Having raced bikes for 40 years, “I thought, yeah, I can do that.” Throughout his ride, Herbst had links for donations on his website, social media pages and QR codes attached to his bike. Ultimately, he raised about $56,000 for cancer research.
Herbst finished his 25-country, 30,000-kilometre, 324-day journey on Nov. 27. He’s yet to submit the paperwork to Guinness and officially claim the title but he always wanted the journey “to be more than just about me riding around the world.”
Read the full report here.
