Cameron Jeffers has posted a video in which he races from Lancaster to Darlington in an attempt to beat a friend who made the same journey by train. The Lancashire cyclist – who was stripped of his British Cycling eRacing national title earlier this year for unsporting conduct – is a committed YouTuber. He also filmed a recent attempt to ride a Boris Bike up Alpe d’Huez and return it to London inside 24 hours.

The distance from Lancaster to Darlington is 115km and the train takes 3h30m.

This meant that Jeffers – who rides for the St Piran cycling team – needed to maintain 33km/h (20.5mph). His route took him through the Yorkshire Dales, over what he calls “some pretty gnarly terrain.”

Jeffers’ friend Chris took the train (in his cycling kit) and the loser had to wear an inflatable sumo suit through the streets of Darlington.

Jeffers became British Cycling eRacing national champion in March, but was later stripped of his title, fined £250 and handed a six-month suspension from racing after being charged with unsporting conduct. (We’re pretty sure informal train racing doesn’t breach that ban.)

In another of his YouTube videos, Jeffers explained that the charge related to the bike he rode in the qualifiers and finals: a Zwift Concept Z1 bike – widely known as a “Tron” bike.

To unlock the Tron bike, users have to climb 50,000m within Zwift. Jeffers allowed a third party to log into his account and they used computer software to simulate the necessary efforts.

Jeffers accepted that his conduct was unethical and apologised, but also pointed out that British Cycling’s technical regulations for eRacing were written several months after he had gained access to the bike.