Following on from my World Record Britain End to End race in 2019, Handcycle Britain went coastal

 

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On the 7th August 2021, I began my next ultra endurance challenge and record-attempt, as I took on Race Around Britain - The Long Road Home.

A circumnavigation of mainland Britain by handbike.

While I was looking to set a fastest known time for handcycling around Britain, I was also looking to break the record for the furthest distance ridden by handcycle. The final route saw me  complete a distance of 7000 km.

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Building on the format of Handcycle Britain - Land’s End to John o’ Groats world-record ride, I rode from dawn, through to dark and often beyond to complete the gruelling total distance in the fastest known time.

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As well as being the biggest distance I had ever attempted, unlike my previous performance challenge I chose to take on this extreme race largely unsupported, with a ground support team working remotely from home around the UK and France.

It was important I take on this challenge in an ethical and environmentally friendly way, promoting sustainable greener travel and of course championing journeying by bike for all.  My plan was to connect with communities and encourage others to ride with me throughout my route; a collective antidote to the critically damaging increase of social isolation through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Race Around Britain was as much about performance, however I also used the challenge as an opportunity to raise awareness and to support my chosen charities doing great work in gynaecological cancer research, a cause personal to me and to the lives of 21,000 women diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer each year.