Leigh Timmis to make across Europe world record attempt in September

Round-the-world cyclist Leigh Timmis has postponed his across Europe world record attempt until September. The adventurer had planned to set off on June 11, but has moved the start date back due to a shortfall in funding.

Yesterday Sean Conway broke the record for the fastest unsupported crossing of Europe by bike, riding from the westernmost point of Portugal to Ufa in Russia in 24 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes.

Timmis congratulated him ahead of his own attempt, which in contrast to Conway will see him fully supported by a team of professionals.

Congratulations and big respect @Conway_Sean - 24 days, 18 hours - a new Fastest Cycle Across Europe WR. Raising the bar for my own attempt this summer #europecyclerecord #ChallengeAccepted @roadcc @cyclingplus @cyclist https://t.co/O9RCGZY2Sv

— Leigh Timmis (@leightimmis) May 11, 2018

Timmis is aiming to complete the journey in under 20 days to raise awareness of mental health issues.

In his own words, his adventures “all have their roots in depression” after the 36-year-old found himself struggling in 2010 and quit everything to ride around the world.

He told the Derby Telegraph: “This journey goes a lot further than you might expect. Europe is huge, you don’t realise the land mass and how far it goes. For me though it is about the cultures. Even though you are travelling fast, I think you will still see the changes.

“You go from your iconic European holiday, crossing the Algarve, it’s the beach, it’s the warm weather, with sea food and vineyards and then going into Poland and seeing that change from West to East.

“We know we can do it in less than the record, but it is how much we are going to beat it by. This is not just about the world record though, it is about highlighting the impact of mental health and how anyone overcome their fears.”

You can find his GoFundMe page here.

In a blog post yesterday, Timmis said: “Training at the University of Derby’s Human Performance Unit has exceeded expectations and I am in better physical condition than expected at this stage of the plan. The testing data points towards achieving an incredible World Record result.

“However, project fund raising has proven challenging and at the point of deciding whether to go for the attempt on the 11th of June, the project was 30% short of funding. As a result of this the decision has been made to change the start date to the 10th of September, allowing extra time to raise the shortfall in funding and putting the team in an even stronger position to make the attempt.”