Goda Ciplyte, 32, Sigitas Kucas, 48, and Edvardas Zizys, 63, are the first Lithuanians to pedal around the world. They were joined by Slawomir Platek from Poland.

The four cyclists traveled around the world for more than 500 days propagating ideas of world peace. They started in the United States and pedaled through the South American, African, European and Asian continents to Japan. On Jan. 25 they returned by plane from Tokyo to Vilnius. All four were met by a crowd of the Vilnius bicycle club's enthusiasts, family members, relatives, friends and supporters with flowers in Vilnius airport. People at the airport waved a poster with the message: "Congratulations! We are proud of you!" The four rode 24,000 kilometers in 44 countries starting in Seattle, on Aug. 6, 1998. They were joined by almost 700 local bicyclists in the United States, Mexico, Peru, Lithuania, Japan and other countries for hours, days, weeks or months.