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6 May 2009
If Robin Simpson fails in his attempt to break the world record for cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back again next month as part of Be Number 1’s LEJOG fund-raising project, it certainly won’t be for a lack of preparation.
Simpson, who is regarded as the world’s fittest athlete, will be attempting to establish his 12th endurance world record when he seeks to complete the near 1,800-mile cycling odyssey in less time than the present record of six days and 17 hours.
“It’s going to be a tough record to break, but my preparations are going pretty well,” said Simpson, the Be Number 1 athlete, who manages his training schedule around his work as a part-time surveyor. And it is a training schedule that is not for the faint-hearted, that’s for sure.
“I have regularly been cycling between 50 and 100 miles four times a week, which has been fine. But what I have also started doing is cycling on the turbo trainer between midnight and 2am, and then again from 4.30am to 5.30am before walking the dogs, having breakfast and going to work. I have done that maybe four or five times so far in an effort to get used to sleep deprivation. And it’s something that I will start doing every other night from next week. I am pretty miserable for the whole of the next day, but if you want something in life, you’ve got to do it.
“Although a 110-mile bike ride test was part of the World’s Fittest Athlete Physical Fitness Challenge that I did last year, I am certainly not a specialist cyclist by any means - in fact, far from it. But it should be a fun challenge trying to beat the two-way record. My plan is to cycle the first 44 hours non-stop, which means that I will hopefully have covered about 700 miles before I have my first sleep. That way, I’ll be ahead of the game both psychologically and in terms of miles covered. That’s the plan anyway, but it will be very much unknown territory for me. For instance, I don’t know how things like saddle sores might affect me.”
The LEJOG project, which hopes to raise £100,000 for the British Heart Foundation, will start on 26 May when Kevin Carr, another Be Number 1 athlete, sets off on a record-breaking attempt to run the entire route from Land’s End to John O’Groats cross country. Stephanie Bridge, meanwhile, will be kite-surfing the route while Jason Gill, a disabled athlete, will be hand-cycling the 900 or so miles.
And Nick Dempsey, the Olympic windsurfing bronze medallist who so narrowly missed out on a medal at the Beijing Games last year, will be leading a team of 10 or so cyclists, who will depart from Land’s End on 7 June and will take nine days to complete the journey to John O’Groats.
Each day along the route, a team led by the Olympic sailing gold-medal winning trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Gosling (formerly Sarah Webb) and Pippa Wilson will be visiting schools to present a health and fitness roadshow to highlight the links between diet, lifestyle, sport and health. |
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As a member of Be Number 1, as well as giving financial support to a British athlete, you can show the world what a great sportsperson you are via your own B#1 Sports Page.
Each member is given a page on the Be Number 1 web site where you can show your own sporting highlights in the shape of blogs, photo galleries and video clips.
We’d like this to be very much sports, health and fitness orientated, so perhaps a bit different from other places on the internet where you can post. The most interesting Sports Page each month will be featured on the Be Number 1 Home page – so pick an athlete, sign up and get posting.
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