Endurance athlete Mark Beaumont wants to go around the world in 80 days – on his bike.
He aims to smash his own enduro cycling record he set nine years ago.
To beat his last effort, he must ride the 18,000 miles at a rate of a staggering 240 miles a day.
If he manages to keep up the punishing schedule, he will slash 40 days off the current world record.
Beaumont, who is aged 34, plans to get on his bike on July 2 to set the new record.
In 2008, he finished the journey in 194 days, but in the intervening years, other cyclists have shaved the time down to the current world record of 123 days, set by New Zealander Andrew Nicholson.
Round Britain curtain raiser
As a curtain raiser, Beaumont is cycling 3,500 miles around Britain before he heads off overseas as a training session.
He hopes to accomplish the task in in 15 days, clocking up 240 miles a day for 16 each day – a blistering pace of 30 miles per hour regardless of tiredness, terrain or weather.
The round the world jaunt starts in Paris.
“This is the culmination of the past two decades, since I was a 12-year-old boy cycling across Scotland,” said Beaumont.
“I would love for this journey to give people the confidence to take on what they are capable of, for young people in particular to stop and to think ‘what’s my 80 days’?”
Limits of human endurance
“I want to redefine the limits of human endurance by proving what seems impossible really is possible. After capsizing in the Atlantic, I gave up being an athlete for a couple of years, and enjoyed making documentaries about other athletes.
“But in truth I had unfinished business, I couldn’t idly watch others push their limits. I am excited and nervous about what lies ahead, it truly is uncharted territory.”
Beaumont’s warm-up and round the world progress is .
So far, he has completed day one of the warm up, riding 392 kilometres at an average speed of 25 mph in 15 hours and 38 minutes.
The round the world challenge is based on Jules Verne’s 1873 adventure novel Around The World In 80 Days, in which adventurer Phileas Fogg set out to win a £20,000 wager betting against him completing the trip within the deadline.
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