Life became, comparatively, rather sedate – an office job and smart shoes (“nobody could believe Ishbel was working in an office!”) until an impromptu trip to the Chris Hoy Velodrome revealed previously untapped sprinting prowess.

Initially, Taromsari raced as a Glasgow Life and Scotland Institute of Sports athlete, training for the Commonwealth Games. However, being half Iranian, the offer of a place on the Iranian National Team meant a chance at an Olympic slot at Rio 2016, and eventually our will-be ‘World Bicycle Girl’ made her way to Iran – a country she’d visited, but never lived in before.

“Women in Iran are told they need to be a ‘good girl’ to marry a ‘good husband’ – they don’t have benefits or the NHS, so they need to marry to acquire security.”

It was quite a shock – she tells me: “Iran was difficult. I’d only visited; I’d never lived there. Women in Iran are second class citizens. They are told they need to be a ‘good girl’ to marry a ‘good husband’ – they don’t have benefits or the NHS, so they need to marry to acquire security. Police control the population by force and fear – everywhere you go there are ‘moral police’. For example, a man and a woman can’t be walking down the street together unless they are married or related, or they could be arrested and have to go through the court process and be bailed out.”

Still, on the team she could cycle towards those Olympic goals. But it wasn’t easy: “The women were treated terribly on the team, and me being me, I couldn’t stand by and watch that carry on.”

Ishbel gives several examples: women being ordered off the track because the men decided against their scheduled road ride (separate genders could not ride on the same velodrome). Women having phones confiscated to prevent distractions from ‘boys’ and travel expenses to training camps not being reimbursed after promises that they would be. The men’s fees were reimbursed and they kept their phones, she tells me.

The life of an Olympic development cyclist behind her, the journey began – all be it unplanned – our cycling nomad says: “I had some time off anyway so I spent some time just riding and deciding what to do. I met two other cycle tourists and I was so inspired I decided to cycle the world. So I flew back to Scotland, sold everything I had and left on a £300 city bike. At first I was scared – especially when wild camping in countries where there are animals we don’t get in the UK. I didn’t sleep, so I got a bit zoned out – I was just so tired and detached. But then I started to sleep.”

She didn’t make the trip easy, heading straight to the Alps, even taking a pannier loaded bike up Alpe d’ Huez only to cycle back down again (the road doesn’t go anywhere – we laughed about this for a while over Earl Grey and Peppermint tea).

“Was it worth the pain? One day I’ll think yes.”

The hardest riding so far I’m told can be attributed only to South America. Taromsari tells me: “There are no roads, there’s no reception, nothing works at 4,500 metres, it all packs in. But it’s one of the most amazing areas I’ve ever seen. Andes, Bolivia – it’s phenomenal. Was it worth the pain? One day I’ll think yes. I did it because I had to cross the Andes to get to Bolivia. And people have done it before.”

Since 2014, when the trip began, female cyclists in Iran have received a heavy weight of column inches in the press after a Fatwa was issues against women riding bicycles in public. Where once they may have wordlessly done as demanded, this year they revolted – riding anyway and sharing their pictures with #IranianWomenLoveCycling. On her World Bicycle tour, Taromsari has been continually offering those women support and posting her own images with the tag.

“The women riding in Iran and posting these images are putting themselves at a lot of risk – not just from the police but from society. Society imprisons women in Iran.”

She explains: “A hundred years ago it was the same here [in Britain], women weren’t allowed to ride. Countries all over the world are at different states of development in equality. Iran is at the very start of the women’s rights movement. In all of these countries, whenever you get women fighting for their rights, you get women fighting to ride bicycles. It’s so important when we see these movements happening, that we get behind them.”

She adds: “The women riding in Iran and posting these images are putting themselves at a lot of risk – not just from the police but from society. Society imprisons women in Iran. I really want people in the UK to understand how important hashtags are. It takes seconds for you to post one, but it shows the nations involved that people are listening. For the women it shows that people in the world agree with them.”

#IranianWomenLoveCycling. Pass it on.