Reza and Steve start their journey in Nordkapp in the Arctic Circle and continue through Scandinavia and Russia. As the pair ride closer to troubled Dagestan in Southern Russia, Steve decides to sidestep the province and meet Reza on the other side. Reza continues on alone with resentment in his heart into the notoriously dangerous province.
After discovering in Dagestan much friendliness and interest despite the ominous military presence, Reza rejoins Steven in Azerbaijan and together they cross Iran before reaching Egypt. Here they inadvertently cycle into a tense political demonstration and they are held at Muslim Brotherhood gunpoint. When the Muslim brothers discover that Reza has a camera they become threatening.
Reza and Steve face food poisoning, heatstroke, torrential rains and stone-throwing locals in Ethiopia, travelling on some of the worst roads in the world. Reza goes down with malaria surrounded by the atrocious conditions of a rural Kenyan clinic he faces his darkest moments of despair as trapped by a situation beyond his control, he sees the World Record slipping away from him.
Reza hits the road again but soon gets knocked down by heatstroke. After recovery, they whizz through Zambia and face wildlife in Botswana, before reaching their ultimate destination Cape Town.