REAL RIDER

Jenny Graham, 38, shattered the women’s around-the-world cycling record completing the feat in 124 Days. Here’s how...

I’d been building up my miles over the past few years and was curious to find out what I was capable of. I met coach John Hampshire and that’s when we started looking at the round-theworld record.

I’m from a mountain bike background and I’d never worked on cadence or technique. Most weekends were back-to-back big rides, followed by turbo sessions and hill sprints in the week.

I ride a Shand Stooshie that was hand-built in Scotland and a perfect fit for me. Its steel frame meant it was comfortable for long hours in the saddle and it’s carbon components keep the weight down.

There were moments when I questioned if I could make it happen. But I had amazing helpers. Once I was riding – even when it was tough – I felt so content out on the road. The toughest times involved the roads around Moscow; they were so busy with very little space for riders. In the end I rode through the night for four nights to keep out of danger. In contrast, the sun rising just north of Badaling, by the Great Wall of China, was spectacular. I was on an airport dash and needed to ride 430km in 28 hours to make my plane – there were beautiful mountains, dusty roads and, by 4am, people were out on the streets. I was moving with the traffic in this surreal state of mind. It was the end of the first leg of my journey and potentially the toughest. I knew if I could make that plane flight I’d probably be able to make the rest of the world too.

I decided to ride all through the night for four nights just to get out of the danger zone