Around the world in 78 days: British cyclist completes record-breaking ride
A British endurance athlete has broken the record for travelling around the world by bike, arriving back in Paris on Monday 78 days, 14 hours and 14 minutes after he set off.
Mark Beaumont was greeted by family, friends and fans at the Arc de Triomphe having cycled for 16 hours a day through 16 countries.
As he removed his helmet and hugged his wife, Nicci, and daughters Harriet, four, and Willa, one, Beaumont learned he had also beaten another record, having cycled a total of 11,315.29km (7,030 miles) in the first month of his challenge.
Beaumont had aimed to complete the journey in 80 days, emulating the French writer Jules Verne, but broke his own target.
“It’s been the longest two and a half months of my life,” he said. “The dream was to get around the world in 80 days. To get back here in 78 days is a dream come true. When I left Paris there were a lot of people wondering if it was possible, if I could actually do this.
“It has been, without doubt, the most punishing challenge I have ever put my body and mind through. The physical and mental stamina required for each day was a challenge in itself. The success of cycling around the world in 80 days shows that what seemed impossible is possible. “I am very grateful for the support I’ve received from people all over the world, from fellow cyclists joining me on the road to messages and wishes online. The experience has been incredible, and I’m excited to share this journey for years to come.”
Beaumont covered 18,000 miles and endured bitter cold, searing heat and storms. Setting off from Paris on 2 July, the first stage took him through Europe to Russia and Mongolia, ending in Beijing. Then it was on to Australia and New Zealand. Stage three began at Anchorage, Alaska, and finished in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He flew back to Lisbon and pedalled north to Paris.
He suffered physical hardship along the way. After a fall in Moscow, a member of his backup team replaced a filling for him (Beaumont was so tired, he fell asleep during the procedure). He said he had found himself in some “very low places” and had shed tears on four occasions – the first time he had cried in more than two decades of endurance challenges. Beaumont held the time record previously, completing the journey in 195 days in 2008. His new record beats New Zealander Andrew Nicholson’s 123 days, set in 2015.
In 2012, Beaumont was part of a team that tried to break the world record for rowing across the Atlantic, but they capsized 27 days in and had to be rescued.
He rested for a few years and instead made documentaries about other athletes. But the lure of the open road and the desire to “redefine the limits of human endurance” drew him back, he has said.
Beaumont has been raising money for Orkidstudio, which works to benefit communities worldwide through innovative architecture and construction. The journey was tracked through Twinkl, a global educational platform for primary schools.
As he neared the end of the circumnavigation, he told the Guardian he was unsure how he was viewed by the “mainstream cycling” fraternity.
“I’m still not sure it has accepted me,” he said. “I know that my main fanbase is 40-year-old males in lycra and that’s great, but I still get complaints that I’ve sold out with all my corporate sponsorship, or that I’m not doing it in the proper spirit because I’ve got two support vehicles
and am racing through at 240 miles a day.
“But when I originally cycled around the world unsupported 10 years ago, I described myself as an adventurer. These days I’m an athlete. It’s all about the performance, it’s about making a livelihood from what I do and being able to support my family, just like Chris Froome makes his living from cycling. Yet he couldn’t do what I’m doing, and I couldn’t do what he does.”
He made it clear he believed his record can be broken. “After all, I’m hardly your typical cyclist – I’m 6’3” and 90 kilos. Someone who is 75 kilos and a ‘proper’ cyclist might do it faster.”
Lindsay Whitelaw, the founder of Beaumont’s main sponsors Artemis Investment, said it was a “marvellous achievement”.
“He came off the bike and broke a tooth and we think he has a hairline fracture to an arm but he managed to carry on. He just kept going. One of the key things Mark wants to do is to show that if you put your mind to something you can do it. Everyone can have their 80 days … if they focus and concentrate on doing something, whatever it is, they can achieve great things.”
Beaumont’s team has prepared an extensive “decompression” strategy to get him used to ordinary life again. His wife said the family was looking forward to some quality time together and there was some catching up to do. “It may just be 80 days to everyone else, but this was two years in the planning for the rest of us,” she said.
Nicci said their daughter Harriet was not impressed by her father’s world record. “She knows he’s been around the world but she still said one day: ‘He’s taken quite a long time, hasn’t he?”