A BIKE race around the world started in Greenwich Park this morning.
The brave cyclists lined up at the start, next to the Royal Observatory, and set off on their journeys at 9am.
The riders are each taking individual routes, with some some heading east and some heading west as they exited the park through Blackheath Gate.
The current Guinness World Record for cycling around the world stands at 96 days, although there are claims that this was recorded in error and should actually be 106 days.
The progress of the cyclists, who are each raising money for charity, can be followed on the World Cycle Racing website.
One of the competitors, Sean Conway, was recently interviewed by Robert Gray:
It should be made clear that Alan Bates holds the record yes, however his attempt was supported by a back up crew a lot of the way around, furthermore he himself is the one saying 106 days.
In contrast, totally unsupported, Vin Cox did in in 163 days or thereabouts taken 31 days of Mark Beaumont’s previous record and these guys will also be unsupported therefore the more realistic time to be measured against ..
Hi All, am only picking this up now. Can someone let me what is/what’s not permissible in the race i.e. when is it permissible to take boats, planes trains, automobiles etc.
Many Thanks,
Eric.
My understanding is when there is no alternative per se for example crossing the channel, pacific, atlantic, war torn areas or similar .. but don’t quote me on that! Somewhere secreted on the website is the rules and that should be able to tell you for certain!