IT has been four years of hard slog. Blood, sweat and tears have been shed along the way, but Airton man Alastair Humphreys has finally got back home after cycling an amazing 45,000 miles around the world.

Familiar surroundings, home cooking and Christmas and birthdays with friends had all been put on the back burner while he completed his ambition to cycle across five continents and 50 countries within five years.

Alastair completed the challenge mostly alone - and for his favourite charity Hope and Homes for Children.

His achievement, which began as a dream back at university in 1998, was totally his own doing. He even financed the adventure after failing to get any financial sponsorship.

He saved £7,000 from his university loans which he estimated would last him four years if he was frugal. It did.

He also managed to earn a bit extra by teaching occasional classes in various countries en route. Some children lapped up his adventure while others looked at him as if he was an alien, or just plain mad.

And as he finally relaxes back at home with his parents Jenny and David after cycling back into Airton on Wednesday, he can reflect on his achievement.

He has earned himself, in his own words "the right to sit on the couch".

Alastair rode into the village to a welcome by friends and neighbours who have been following his journey on his website - roundtheworldbybike.com - and in the media. But he remains totally unaffected by the enormity of his achievement which saw him go through three Rockhopper mountain bikes.

"I'm very glad to be back, knowing that I achieved what I set out to do, but because I have been travelling so slowly it has been part of my life and part of living for the past four years. I haven't yet had time to look back and think about what I have done," he said.

He added his journey has made him more optimistic and positive about people.

"Many of the countries I went through were poor, but people were extremely generous offering accommodation and food. To them I was a curiosity.

"To be honest, most people thought I was totally mad. Being fair haired and white, I looked totally different. Most of the time people just stared," he said.

Alastair purposely slowed down on his last leg through Europe so he could enjoy it. "I could easily have sped up knowing I was almost home," he said.

Mum Jenny told the Herald she hadn't realised just how relieved she was that he was back safely until he rode into Portsmouth.

"I purposely had tried not to worry up until then, even though I can worry for England, but it hit me when he got back," she exclaimed. She added that her younger son, Duncan, was a sky diving instructor so for her, anxiety was second nature.

Alastair's father David added that he too sent a silent prayer up each day that he stayed safe, but was not unduly worried about his son.

"He's a grown man and I knew he would be able to look after himself. People in this world are basically good.

"People in other countries are friendly and I knew he would never be refused help if he needed it," he said.

Alastair says his next task is getting a book deal sorted out and he is going back down south to see a potential agent. On Wednesday he is visiting a school in Reading to give a talk and slide show.

While there he will be staying at the home of his girlfriend, Sarah Beslee, who he tearfully parted from way back in 2001, but who has supported him throughout.

"I need to start looking at earning a living now. I'm still going to promote the charity and people can donate on the website, but I hope to earn money by giving talks, after dinner speeches and slide shows mainly," he said.

Although Alastair has now qualified to teach biology at high school level, he has put it on the back-burner for a while.

"I need to look at what I want to do seriously for a living now. Teaching can wait a bit longer," he said.

He also wants to keep up his fitness levels and is even talking about completing an Ironman challenge.

He's also thinking about cooking the family Christmas dinner this year!

In the meantime he has celebrity status to deal with and official engagements to carry out.

His first is switching on the Christmas lights in Settle tomorrow evening (Saturday) before giving a slide show in Kirkby Malham School at 7.30pm.

Picture by Stephen Garnett.