Cyclist freezes out rivals to win Arctic Circle ride
A researcher at the University of Bath has cycled almost twice the distance of the Tour de France in just 11 days to win a trans-european bike race. Transport psychologist Dr Ian Walker, is celebrating – and recovering – after notching up 4,300km over 11 countries to win the North Cape 4000 unsupported bike race. Dr Walker’s awe-inspiring performance has led to him winning the second edition of the North Cape trans-european 4,000k challenge. Having set off from Lake Garda in Italy on Saturday, July 28 it took him just 11 days to travel to North Cape, deep within the Arctic Circle. In that time he crossed Austria, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and finally Norway. As if that was not enough, when the 44-year-old rolled into Nordkapp on Wednesday evening last week – having braved the elements, navigated through herds of reindeer and under one of the longest sea tunnels in the far reaches of northern Europe – he was eight hours ahead of the next rider. The pack competing included many seasoned international endurance athletes. Cycling for up to 18 hours a day, Ian burnt as many as 11,000 calories at a time – the equivalent of 48 Mars bars a day. As part of his cycle Ian raised money for road safety charity Roadpeace. To date he has raised £1,314 - well over his original £1,000 target. Returning to work in the Department of Psychology this week, he said: “I entered this race with the goal of putting in my strongest possible ride, and winning overall if that were possible. My commute to Bath is an 82-kilometre round trip so I’d certainly got the training miles in over the previous months. “I impetuously went out too hard on the first day and as a result the climb over the Reschenpass in the Alps was far slower and harder than I’d have hoped; much of the second day was spent limping along trying to recover from the first day. “I stuck with it and kept riding the best I could, and managed to work my way back up to the top five or six riders after the first few days. It was clear I was amongst some strong cyclists though, and making progress against them was not going to be easy. “Things really came together as we hit Latvia. The route involved a 42-kilometre section of rough dirt roads, which seemed to throw a lot of the other riders off. “Despite riding on a ridiculously dodgy tyre I’d picked up for 6 Euros that morning following a blow-out, I hammered the gravel section hard and got ahead of the other riders.” And having got ahead, Ian then decided to pull an all-nighter to cross Estonia and get up to Finland with a couple of hours’ lead over the next rider. He said: “It was then a slightly stressful 1,500-kilometre breakaway with me constantly worrying about the pack of riders coming up behind me. After the race finished I still spent the next two nights dreaming I was being chased! “In the end I found myself getting stronger and stronger as I rode the length of Finland, and after eventually crossing into Norway I won the race with an eight-hour window over the next rider in a time of 11 days and 10 hours. “The race was an extraordinary, humbling event and to cover that sort of distance so fast under my own power was a great reminder of just how large the world really is.” For those unfamiliar with the Tour de France, Ian’s journey is roughly four times from Land’s End to John O’groats.