TWO newly-weds cycling from Mongolia to Windermere had a chance encounter with the couple who inspired them to take on their marathon bike ride in the first place.

Honeymooners Tom Mullen, 28, and Emily Hodge, 27, came across Chris Leakey and Liz Wilton, from Crook, while pedalling through southern Mongolia.

Mr Leakey and Miss Wilton featured in The Westmorland Gazette two years ago before embarking on a 15-month cycle ride from New Zealand to Ambleside.

Mr Mullen and Ms Hodge, who only got married three days before setting off on their cycling odyssey, had noticed a pair of bikers ahead of them as they pedalled through the Gobi Desert.

They caught up with Mr Leakey and Miss Wilton and identified them as the couple who had appeared in the Gazette.

Ms Hodge said on the couple’s blog byironhorse.wordpress.com: “After a challenging 35km we noticed some cyclists in the distance.

"Bizarrely they turned out to be Chris and Liz. Tom had been checking their blog while they had been away.”

She added that Mr Mullen’s mother, Lis, had saved the August 2009 article from the Gazette for them to read after they returned from a Land’s End to John O’Groats ride.

“This article had got us thinking about a longer trip in the first place and there they were in Outer Mongolia on the same road as us. Weird.”

Ms Hodge said the two couples drank coffee, ate biscuits and asked questions about which routes they intended to take while they ‘hung out on the side of the road for a few hours.’

The last entry on Mr Mullen and Ms Hodge’s blog saw them crossing the border between Mongolia and China, while Mr Leakey and Ms Wilton are in the Tariat region of northern Mongolia.

Mr Mullen and Ms Hodge began their trip on July 23 and aim to cycle south through China, Laos and Thailand before catching a flight to Sri Lanka and moving on to southern India.

They then plan to cycle north through the Himalayas, before turning west and seeing Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey.

Mr Leakey and Miss Wilton’s route sees them go through Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe before arriving in England, and cycling north to Ambleside.