HE has cycled the world and travelled through the Americas but Scottish adventurer Mark Beaumont has set his sights on bringing home a new record.

The 32-year-old will attempt to become the fastest rider to complete an almost 7,000 mile journey travelling the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town.

The current Guinness World Record, held by Robert Knol of the Netherlands, stands at 70 days.

Mark believes he can knock at least 20 days off that to complete the route which takes in countries including Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

The Scot, who has been preparing for the challenge by training at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, will depart on April 9.

It marks his first major expedition since 2012 when Mark almost lost his life after his boat capsized during a world record bid to row across the Atlantic Ocean.

He and his five crew-mates spent 14 hours in icy waters fighting for survival.

This time around Mark will face unforgiving terrain and extremes of climate as well as the threat of kidnapping or attack in some of the regions he will pass through.

"It's a massive ambition," he said. "With the round the world, I was averaging 100 miles a day for half a year.

"This is a much tighter expedition and I'm planning to push upwards of 140 miles each day in Africa. It's a very different challenge."

It is exactly seven years ago this month that Perthshire-based Mark, a graduate of Glasgow University, completed his 18,000 miles round the world challenge.

"To try and bring home the pan-Africa record from Cairo to Cape Town completes what has always been my ultimate hat trick," he said.

"If you look at the world map you have the circumnavigation, Alaska-Tierra del Fuego and then Cairo-Cape Town: those are the three big endurance routes.

"Back in 2007/08, I broke the round-the-world record by what was 81 days at the time and then followed that up with a nine-month journey down the Rockies and Andes.

"It's been five years since I've done anything big on the bike."

The plan is that Mark will leave in eight weeks and be in Cape Town by the end of May.

He will be raising money for Orkidstudio, a Glasgow humanitarian architecture charity which works to benefit communities through innovative design and construction with projects in Africa, Asia, South and Central America.

But the latest challenge isn't something Mark is undertaking lightly.

Tackling Africa on two wheels has involved months of meticulous planning.

"My biggest concern is northern Kenya where there have been worrying attacks in recent months," he said.

"The first 400 miles is a bit of a no-man's land through northern Kenya as far down as a place called Archers Post which is north of Nairobi.

"It's the area I'm most likely to have a security escort."

Nor are those the only concerns for the father-of-one as he prepares to hit the road again.

"Taking all the risks people might think of the one I'm always worried about most is road traffic accidents," he said.

"After you think of war, malaria, wild animals and all that stuff, the thing that is actually most likely to go wrong is that you get hit by a car.

"I've been hit by cars quite a lot."

Read the full interview with Mark Beaumont exclusively in The Herald Magazine today.