Scottish expeditionist Mark Beaumont has overcome his first obstacle – a fairly major one – as he attempts to cycle the Americas.

Riding a cycle trail stretching from the Northern point of Alaska to the Southern tip of South America, the Perthshire adventurer is slotting in ascents of the continent’s two highest peaks en-route, and he has now successfully completed the first one.

Mark reached the 20,321 ft summit of Mount McKinley (locally known as Denali), Alaska earlier this week. 

He will now get back on his bike and continue his journey south, averaging more than 80 miles per day over steep hills and frightening descents.

‘Cycling the Americas’ is Beaumont’s first major expedition since he broke the world record for cycling the globe in February 2008.  Once again he is being followed and supported by the BBC.

He told BBC Scotland: "I'm feeling, to be honest, absolutely shattered.

"Myself and the team up here have just spent the last 15 hours summiting Mount McKinley and it's certainly taken its toll on us, but this is the first part of a seven-month expedition for me so it's a great relief that it's gone well.

"It's a difficult climb, a lot of that time is spent acclimatising and it's one of the coldest mountains on earth to climb up so it's been a difficult one.”