Adventurer Sarah Outen prepares to cross Atlantic in rowing boat

Sarah Outen cycled and kayaked 5,000 miles across North America

An adventurer aiming to loop the planet using only a kayak, bike and ocean rowing boat is preparing for the penultimate leg of her epic journey.

Sarah Outen's challenge began in London in 2011 and is due to end there later this year.

The 29-year-old from Rutland arrived in Cape Cod this weekend, having cycled and kayaked 5,000 miles (8,050km) across North America.

She will next row solo across the Atlantic to Cornwall.

The adventurer encountered temperatures as low as -40C (-40F) during the journey across Canada and the US.

She encountered bears while cycling through Alaska

Project manager of the London2London expedition, Sara Davies, said the trip was filled with danger, including bears in Alaska, heavy snow and traffic.

"When she was kayaking along the Aleutian Islands she camped on these remote uninhabited islands," she said.

"On one occasion she was having a bath in a pool of water when a bear started sniffing around her clothes.

"She was butt naked trying to scare off the bear. Eventually it just lost interest and wandered off."

The penultimate leg is a 3,000-mile row across the Atlantic

Ms Outen, who was met on Saturday in Cape Cod by a crowd of well-wishers, will spend the next month preparing her custom-made boat for the 3,000-nautical mile (5,560km) row across the Atlantic.

She is due to arrive in the UK in August or September and will then cycle, kayak and row back to Tower Bridge.

Ms Outen became the first woman to row solo across the North Pacific in 2013. The previous year she was rescued from the ocean by the Japanese coastguard during a tropical storm.

She aims to raise more than £100,000 for charity as part of the challenge.