London-based bicycle mechanic Bruce Berkeley has abandoned his attempt to set a Guinness World Record due to “personal and physical issues.”
The New Zealander, who began his attempt on the record in South Australia at the start of January, broke the news on Strava last Tuesday with the following message:
In January, according to Strava, he rode 6,514 miles. But after he stopped logging rides there in early February, some of his 1,460 friends on Facebook began to express concerns.
One, Christophe Demoulin, wrote: “Hey Brucey, what's happening with your record? You ok? No activity in Strava or posts on FB ... you've certainly got me worried ...”
The record is currently held by the American Kurt Searvogel, who last month finished his year-long ride in which he racked up a total of 76,076 miles, beating the previous record, long thought unbreakable, of 75,075 miles by British rider Tommy Godwin, set in 1939.
Searvogel’s successful attempt was carried out under the auspices of the Ultramarathon Cycling Association (UMCA) and has since been recognised by Guinness World Records.
> Searvogel awarded Guinness World Record for distance cycled in a year
The UMCA introduced its Highest Annual Mileage Record (HAM’R) category as Searvogel and Briton Steve Abraham both sought to beat Godwin’s distance.
While Berkeley’s attempt was being carried out under Guinness World Record rules, the UMCA last month disqualified his attempt for non-compliance with its own rules, which require riders to have live tracking.
Abraham’s efforts to set a new record received a blow last March after he was injured when a moped rider crashed into him.
He launched a fresh attempt in August last year but abandoned it in January, admitting “it isn’t working.”
Born in Scotland, Simon moved to London aged seven and now lives in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds with his miniature schnauzer, Elodie. He fell in love with cycling one Saturday morning in 1994 while living in Italy when Milan-San Remo went past his front door. A daily cycle commuter in London back before riding to work started to boom, he's been news editor at road.cc since 2009. Handily for work, he speaks French and Italian. He doesn't get to ride his Colnago as often as he'd like, and freely admits he's much more adept at cooking than fettling with bikes.