FORMER York school pals Tom Riley and Rob Lucas will set off on a round-the-world trip with a difference tomorrow.

The intrepid duo will travel 20,000 miles across four continents and through 20 countries using only pedal power.

It is a far cry from their school days, when Tom and Rob used to cycle from their homes in Strensall to Huntington School together – a distance of barely two miles.

The pair, both 22 and just finished university, are setting off from York Minster – and will not see their homes again for 18 months.

In that time they will cycle across Europe, central Asia, China, Japan, Alaska, Canada, America and then Africa.

Along the way they will encounter extreme temperatures ranging from -30C in the icy central Asian mindwinter to a boiling 40C in the Sahara Desert.

Tom said: “You could say it’s a little bit further and a bit different than riding from Strensall to Huntington!”

As reported in The Press, Tom and Rob are making the epic trip to try and raise £20,000 for WaterAid, a global organisation providing vital safe water and sanitisation facilities for some of the world’s poorest people. It is a charity that is very close to Tom’s heart.

In his gap year he spent three months living and working in Ghana and saw first hand just how vital safe water is to those who don’t have it.

Although it is a daunting challenge, Tom and Rob are both looking forward to what should be the trip of a lifetime.

“I have always wanted to travel the world and this is a great way to do it,” said Tom.

“When you travel by bike you can experience the country and different ways of life around the world and you get to meet people, which is what I am looking forward to most of all.”

Tom is no stranger to long distance bike riding. In the summer of 2008 he and another friend flew out to Venice and then cycled home. And last summer he travelled from John O’Groats to Lands End on his bike.

They will be waved off from the Minster by the Lord Mayor, Coun David Horton, and a full civic party.

To sponsor Tom and Rob and to follow their progress, log on to aroundtheworldforwater.co.uk