In the classic French adventure novel, Phileas Fogg attempts to travel around the world in 80 days to satisfy a bet. Inspired by the tale, ultra endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont made his own trek around the world—via bicycle, of course—completing it on Monday in a record 79 days.
Beaumont rode more than 18,00 miles across the globe, covering the oceans via plane. (Check out an interactive map of his full route.) The 34-year-old Scotsman shattered the previous record of 123 days. He also broke a second Guinness record for the most distance covered by bike in a month, having gone 7,031 miles from Paris to Perth, Australia, in July.
Officially made it around the world in 78 days,14hrs & 40 mins. Thx to all the supporters and support teams. https://t.co/fp8LxjnSCQ #80days
— Mark Beaumont (@MrMarkBeaumont) September 18, 2017
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In an interview with VisitScotland.com before the journey, Beaumont said he planned to ride about 240 miles each day, spending around 16 hours on the bike. He aimed to burn about 9,000 calories daily and eat 30 to 40 grams of protein to stay fueled.
This was not Beaumont's first attempt to ride around the world. In 2008 he broke the 18,000-mile circumnavigation world record, a solo journey that took him 194 days and 17 hours. The BBC made a documentary and book about that ride, called The Man Who Cycled the World.
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Beaumont's more recent journey, which he dubbed the Artemis World Cycle, took him exactly 78 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes—much faster than his previous time, thanks to the help of his support team along with calculated training and preparation. (Reach your own bicycling milestones with help from The Cyclist's Bucket List.)
What's next for Beaumont? "I look forward to walking the dog and sleeping in a normal bed and eating a nice meal without getting pummeled, with a massage at the same time," he told the Daily Telegraph just before the end of the ride.
Katie was out riding one day when she hopped onto a group ride of Bicycling’s editors and the rest was history, and now takes care of all things social media for Runners World and Bicycling. When she’s not racing at a velodrome, or scrolling through Instagram, you can probably find her at a local hockey game.
