TWO friends who rode 53,000 miles around the world on motorbikes for charity have come home to a hero's welcome.

Martin Williams and Alan Brown set off from Clayton's Lounge, in Marlow, 14 months ago to travel the distance of the circumference of the globe twice.

Mr Brown had a serious fall in Argentina, which stripped the skin off his hand and took three weeks to recover from, and both of the riders were nearly run off the road and killed in Peru.

They also took their bikes through rivers, up mountains and into riots in Mozambique.

But the pair returned safely to their starting point in Oxford Road on Saturday, cheered on by a large welcoming committee of family and friends who had been following their progress online.

Gareth Williams, from Goring, studied mechanical engineering with Mr Williams at the University of Bath. He said: "It's incredible what they have achieved, I am so envious of them."

The bikers were inspired to take up the challenge after receiving a DVD for Christmas about Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Moor's epic motorcycle journey from London to New York via Asia.

Mr Brown, an IT account manager, and Mr Williams, a scuba diving instructor and construction engineer, have been riding buddies for ten years and wanted their next trip to have a purpose.

The sponsored ride aimed to raise money for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, to help poor, sick or exploited children in each of the countries they visited.

Mr Williams, 44, of Trinity Avenue, Marlow, said the highlight of his trip was riding through the beautiful Bolivian countryside and meeting some of the people their money would help.

Bolivia was Mr Brown's favourite country too, in spite of the difficult terrain. He said: "There were no roads, so we were just driving through mud. One day we took the bikes through 12 rivers in one day, but the scenery was stunning."

Mr Brown, 40, of Bobmore Lane, Marlow, said it was a life changing experience and he hoped it would raise at least £10,000 to change someone else's life for the better too.

* To sponsor the riders and see photos from their trip visit biking the globe at www.cix.co.uk/icsl/index.

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