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Tuesday 9 June 2009
Robin Simpson, the Be Number 1 athlete, has made a flying start in his attempt to beat the world record for cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End and then back again to John O’Groats.
The current record for the near-1,800 mile journey, which stands at six days and 17 hours, looks well within Simpson’s compass after the 31-year-old Yorkshireman gobbled up the first 125 miles in just seven hours. Should he succeed, it would be his 12th endurance world record.
Be Number 1 caught up (just!) with the fittest athlete in the world at 3pm today as he was taking the very briefest of breaks by the side of the A9 near Inverness.
“I was hoping to start at 4am today, but a delayed arrival in John O’Groats last night meant that I didn’t get on the road until 8am,” said Simpson.
“But things have gone reasonably well so far, considering I haven’t been on the bike in the past week. I am unsurprisingly a bit saddle sore, but the biggest concern has been the horrendous amount of traffic on the A9, which also has a 70mph speed limit. It has been a bit hairy at times!
“I have no set plans as to when I will make my first proper stop, but it won’t be before I have covered 450 miles, which should take about 30 hours. Anyway, I’ve got to go now. No time to lose.”
And with that, Simpson was back in the saddle and heading south towards Land’s End once again.
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