A couple who agreed to cycle around the world together in their first Tinder message have spent a year and a half pedalling through four continents.

When Mike Langridge, 32, and Helen Clarkson, 30, matched on the dating app, they jokingly planned on quitting their jobs and biking around the world.

By their second date, the couple decided to embark on the trip in earnest and began saving up £27,000 for the journey, even moving in together to save on rent.

A year and four months later, the pair cycled through Europe, Asia, Australia and North America on a 16-month adventure.

The loved up duo, who now live in Edinburgh, tied the knot midway through their 19,000-mile trip in a romantic ceremony at national park Yosemite in California, USA.

Ms Clarkson, a social media coordinator, said: "We just thought 'what's stopping us? We could do it, couldn't we?'

"Neither of us were happy in our jobs.

"There was literally nothing stopping us and all we needed was bikes, money and the determination to do it."

Mr Langridge, a solicitor, posted a picture of him standing in Yosemite on his Tinder profile and wrote that his life goal was to cycle the world.

When Ms Clarkson matched with him in January 2016, her first message was: "When are we leaving?"

He replied: "How about Tuesday?"

After 14 months together, the couple had stockpiled enough cash and on April 4, 2017 - a Tuesday - they set off from Glasgow.

In April 2018, they tied the knot in Yosemite in front of their parents and two friends from the UK.

Ms Clarkson said: "We were together for ten months when we got engaged in November 2016.

"We always wanted to get married in Yosemite and we started planning the wedding when we were in China."

Mr Langridge added: "It is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

"It was my profile picture on Tinder so it felt right that we got married there."

The couple singled out cycling along a 1000-mile stretch in Australia as the most intense bonding experience on the trip.

Mr Langridge said: "Our biggest bonding challenge was cycling across the Outback.

"There's a section that joins Eastern and Western Australia.

"It's a road that is 1000-miles long and there's just about nine gas stations, that's it, there's not even a bench.

"There's a 90-mile stretch where the road doesn't bend or go up or down a hill - it's a straight line into the wind.

"It took us a day and a half and it was the hardest mental challenge of the trip.

"The wind never stopped blowing into our faces.

"It was like cycling into a hairdryer.

"The smell of dead kangaroos was unbearable.

"It took us a day and a half to ride it and Helen broke down in tears at the end of it."

After the wedding, the couple headed north to Salt Lake City, Utah, and as they left the city, Mr Langridge collapsed with hypothermia.

A storm came in and Ms Clarkson watched in horror as he weaved along the hard shoulder of the interstate highway.

She said: "His features were contorted into a screaming cry, his eyes were shut and his mouth was wide open."

She flagged down a car and the driver called an ambulance.

Paramedics treated him with heated packs and, once his temperature was back to normal, he was discharged. The couple decided to drive on to Denver, Colorado, but once there Mr Langridge felt well enough to get back onto his bike.

The couple had difficulty adjusting to life back home when they eventually returned.

Ms Clarkson said: "It was really hard.

"Part of me was glad to have a rest from cycling, it wasn't like I still wanted to do it every day.

"We missed that freedom though.

"When we were on the bike all we had to worry about was what we were going to eat, where we were going to sleep and where we were headed."

The couple are currently writing a book on their adventure.