Brazilian biker Denizart Simoes was in Shanghai earlier this month on his third trip to China. Photo provided to China Daily

'Kingdom of Bicycles' rises again

A bike for Beijing

Former car mechanic Denizart Simoes has been cycling across 50 nations for the past 14 years, from the southern tip of Patagonia, where South America meets the Antarctic, to Egypt. The Brazilian plans to set a new Guinness World Record next month on Chinese territory with the aim to break German traveler Heinze Stucke's cycling record of 400,000 kilometers, set in 1995. It took Stucke two decades to achieve the milestone.

"Chinese people don't understand why I do it. Of course I'm trying to beat Stucke's record. He was my hero, when I was far away from him, but not so much anymore. But the main reason was to stop smoking," says Simoes. "I'd also split with my woman, so that was another reason."

Fittingly, the 50-year-old hopes to rewrite the tour record while at Chinese Taipei wearing a soccer jersey covered with red dragons: the logo of his home team Sao Paulo F.C.

"Standing still is boring. But if you keep moving, it's always something new. That's why I want to finish in Taiwan, which is where all the bike factories are," he says.

He dreams of being sponsored someday by Magura, a German company coveted for its forks and hydraulic brakes, with presence in Taiwan.