| In 2002, we smashed the Guinness World Record
for the Fastest Circumnavigation of the World by Motorcycle,
taking 12 ½ days off the previous record. We averaged
1,000 miles a day on the bike and rode 19,461 miles in 19½
days. Not
only that, this motorcycle record also beat the existing car
record for Around the World by 1 hour and 50 minutes. Made
even more exceptional by the fact that the car record allows
two drivers to rotate the driving. Our Guinness World Record
Motorcycle Ride now stands as the fastest overland vehicle
around the world.
This was a World Record set in the true Guinness spirit,
an independent attempt at a huge world record. With no corporate
funding, no support vehicle and no back up team in the UK,
we planned, researched and executed this ride with only ourselves
to rely on.
Many people ask us "what if . . . . . ."; our only
answer is that we planned to ensure there was no what if.
From how the bike was prepared, to our own personal training,
to the minimal but multi-functional equipment we carried,
everything was done with one aim, one focus, one objective
in mind – to show that riding two-up, we would set a
record which would stand for many years to come, surpassing
the previous record by an extraordinary amount of time.
The
next question many people ask is how we funded such a ride
– there is no secret; many nights spent pouring over
maps meant more money saved, and ultimately when we realised
that we would get no corporate funding, our confidence in
our ability to do the World Record meant that we re-mortgaged
our flat.
Our ultimate success? We did something we believed in and
had dreamed about. We lived our passion for travel and adventure,
a thrill for seeking extreme bike challenges, and maintained
focused determination and teamwork.
|