A renowned Scottish adventurer has smashed the Cairo to Cape Town cycling world record, completing the trip in just 42 days and beating the previous best time by more than two weeks
Mark Beaumont’s incredible feat has seen him take an astonishing 16 days off the existing world record of 59 days and eight hours for the 6,750 mile ‘Africa Solo’ challenge, beating the time set by the South African rider, Keegan Longueira, earlier this year.
The record-breaking time has seen Mark dramatically beat even his personal target of 50 days, and is made all the more remarkable given that he was forced to overcome problems with his bike, as well as fight off an attempted mugging, during his epic trek along the iconic African route.
Having left Cairo on April 10th, Mark has maintained an average mileage of 150 miles per day through challenging conditions and terrain, journeying through countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana before reaching South Africa.
‘Africa Solo’ represented Mark’s latest endurance cycling challenge, having previously completed an 18,000 mile round-the-world bike race in 2008, which saw him smash the previous world record for that trip by a staggering 82 days.
He also set a record for cycling the Americas for a BBC documentary in 2010, and last year followed the Queen’s Baton Relay around 70 Commonwealth nations and territories in the build up to the Games in Glasgow.
Mark’s journey raised money for humanitarian design organisation, Orkidstudio, for whom he has been patron since 2010. The expedition has already raised over £30,000 for Orkidstudio’s projects.
Mark Beaumont said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have completed the ‘Africa Solo’ challenge in a time which was beyond even my own expectations. It’s been an incredible journey, and I’ll never forget all that I’ve seen and experienced along the way.
“I’m doubly pleased to have raised money for Orkidstudio, and having seen so many of the regions and communities it supports, it’s clear that they do invaluable work to help people throughout Africa. I hope that my journey will inspire people to raise much needed funds for the charity.”
