Steve James completes his round the world cycle!

Supporters attending the Heineken Champions Cup clash between Exeter Chiefs and Glasgow Warriors lined the entrance into Sandy Park at 2:30pm as Devon cyclist Steve James brought to a conclusion an epic fundraising ride.

Local banker Steve James brought the curtain down on an 18,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe, which has seen him raising money for the Exeter Chiefs Foundation, the official club charity, and Cancer Research UK.

Since setting off from Sandy Park back in April, the 60-year-old has travelled across four continents and 22 countries in a trip he described himself as ‘a journey into the unknown’.

Steve cycled across Europe and Asia, including Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and China, before flying to Perth in Australia. His adventure then took him to New Zealand, across America and to Nova Scotia in Canada and then back to Plymouth via Spain and France.

His aims are two-fold, to raise money for charity and to set himself a challenge after retiring from a corporate banking career for NatWest in Devon.

"I’d sat behind a desk for 40 years and having retired, I just wanted to get on and do this challenge."

Steve is no stranger to long-distance cycling, having previously travelled coast-to-coast across America seven years ago. However, this latest trip has been be on another level entirely, both in the distance and the remoteness of the route.

Ahead of his trip, Steve said: "I’ve mentally prepared myself for being alone a lot of the time. I’ve done lots of scenario training, thinking about what it is going to be like if I’m in the middle of nowhere with food poisoning, feeling very lonely. I’m working out how I deal with that because the challenge is bigger mentally than it is physically."

Tony Rowe OBE, Chairman of the Exeter Chiefs Foundation, said: “We are delighted Steve has chosen to support the charity in this challenge. It's been a phenomenal effort on his part and I hope as many supporters as possible attending our game tomorrow will line the entrance to the stadium to give him a rousing welcome back home!"

To sponsor Steve visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SteveJames16