Bearded extreme adventurer Sean Conway has broken the record for the fastest crossing of Europe by bike unsupported, riding from the westernmost point of Portugal to Ufa in Russia in 24 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes.
Why your next bike should be a touring bike
Using a signature steel performance tourer by Stanforth Bikes dubbed the Stanforth Conway (read all about it here) Conway began in Cabo da Roca on the 16th April, arriving in Ufa at 15:39 local time on Friday 11th May. The previous record to beat of 25 days, 3 hours and 38 minutes was set in July last year by Jonas Deichmann of Germany, with Conway's time beating that mark with a shade under 9 hours to spare.
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Riding unsupported, Conway was forced to bed down for the night under a bivvy with a sleeping bag to save weight on his bike; and sleeping on roadsides and even in an under-road drain on one occasion, he claims to have averaged around four hours shut-eye a night. Conway also faced very strong headwinds in the last thousand miles, and credited taking an alternative route in the final week as he crossed Russia for helping to claw back some of the lost time.
And that’s a wrap. It’s taken me 6 years, 60,000 miles and 3 failed attempts at a cycling world record but today it finally happened. 3980 miles across Europe world record in 24 days. 18 hours. 39 minutes. I think I may lie down now. #europecyclerecordpic.twitter.com/NVvIsHNdW6
— Sean Conway (@Conway_Sean) May 11, 2018
Conway spoke of his relief at finally landing the record on his Twitter page earlier, after his first attempt at it last August ended at the 800 mile mark due to an injury: "It’s taken me 6 years, 60,000 miles and 3 failed attempts at a cycling world record but today it finally happened. 3980 miles across Europe world record in 24 days. 18 hours. 39 minutes. I think I may lie down now", wrote Conway.