Ten cyclists from Great Britain want to set a world record by pedaling all 2,448 miles of Route 66 in just seven days, according to the St. Albans Review.
The cyclists will embark on the relay effort sometime next year, said the newspaper, to raise money for Help for Heroes and the Willow Foundation.
The team, who are aged between 20 and 52, have planned to complete the cycle in a relay, followed by Winnebagos and will aim to cycle 350 miles a day to achieve their target of claiming a Guinness World Record title. […]
The team hopes to raise £100,000 towards their chosen charities and will hold a launch day on Sunday (September 23) where they will cycle behind an old double-decker bus from the Crooked Billet pub in London Colney to London. The bus will be emblazoned with charity banners publicising their challenge.
Apparently these fellows haven’t done a lot of training. They’d better get started.
I couldn’t find a category in Guinness online about relay cycling. However, maybe the book will add it to the listings if — and that’s a big if — they can pull it off.
I think this wold be a real challenge esp in Sept.
This is not just a straight smooth road that is nice and cool all day
There are a lot of open stretches where the sun will pound on you for hours and no where to find a shade as well as some really high hills to climb
This would be a challenge for sure
Agreed. They’d have to have someone riding 24 hours a day. They’d have to cycle about 15 miles an hour, for 24 hours, just to keep the pace.
I did find a record for one cyclist Vancouver -> Halifax as 6055km (3763 miles) in 13 days 6 hours 13 minutes, the equivalent of 455 km/day (283 miles/day).
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/record-smashing-bike-ride-125620998.html
No small feat, but that’s still far less ambitious than 450 miles/day.
450? I should’ve said 350.
As for relay cycling and the Guinness books? There is a record for Halifax -> Vancouver for a team of five, 3763 miles in 8 days 8 hr 14 min at an average speed of 40 km/h (about 25 miles per hour). That would need to cover a minimum 450 miles/day. No desert (as the Trans-Canada Highway is no US 66) but still no small feat.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-5000/fastest-cycle-across-canada-by-a-relay-team/
We did it 7 days 3 hours and 45 minutes and only eight of us. Read all about it in the book Route 66 Cycle Challenge Kevees Story by Kevin Lynch available on Amazon. It was hard work