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Double Olympic champion, James Cracknell, and Team HotChillee are heading to Cornwall for the start of their attempt to set a world record for cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats this weekend.
Cracknell and a team of three elite riders will take part in the HotChillee End To End Challenge starting at 05.00 on Saturday, October 17th. It will be an attempt to establish a world record for a cycle relay team riding from one end of the UK to the other.
Team HotChillee
Phill Sykes, Steve Golla, James Cracknell and Jerone Walters
Cracknell, who this year rode in the London-Paris Cycle Tour and the L’Etape du Tour, said: “In the past couple of days I've stepped up the sprint training to try and make sure I deliver in my stints. Some chance with the way Jerone, Phill and Steve put the hammer down. It's going to be a brutal 842 miles but I couldn't ask for better riders to go with. I can't wait.”
His HotChillee End To End team-mates are London-based Australian IT director Jerone Walters, Steve Golla and Phill Sykes.
Walters (36), a Sigma Sport rider, said: "My biggest concern is the weather. It looks like we’ll start with a headwind and end in the rain. Perhaps we should have planned to go from north to south in June!"
Sykes (35), a sports manager from Petersfield, said: “I’m waxed, fake baked and ready!”
Sven Thiele, of HotChillee, the global marketing and events company staging the world record attempt, said: “Everything is in place and we’re ready to set the record. We have a great team of sponsors and a talented back-up crew. If the weather’s with us, James and the HotChillee team could produce something really special.”
The HotChillee End To End team will ride the 842 miles non-stop on aerodynamic time trial bikes. One rider will always be on the road, with the other three resting in a support vehicle.
The current record for the End To End ride by a single rider is held by ex-pro cyclist Gethin Butler, who covered the distance in 44 hours, four minutes and 20 seconds in 2001.
The assault on a relay record for Land’s End to John O’Groats will set the benchmark for next summer’s HotChillee E2E Relay Challenge. This new endurance relay ride will be open to amateur cyclists wanting to challenge the record set by Cracknell and his team.
The 842 mile classic route is covered by hundreds of cyclists every year in charity rides typically taking nine to 14 days – Team HotChillee’s target is under 40 hours.
The End To End Challenge is sponsored by HotChillee, road cycling and triathlon specialist Sigma Sport, sports nutrition manufacturer Science In Sport, sports skincare company Sportique and media and sponsorship specialists Cyclevox, who will be filming the record attempt. Sports clothing company adidas will be supplying Team HotChillee’s kit.
Regus, the world's largest provider of workspace solutions, will be supplying Cracknell and his team with a mobile HQ which will follow the riders along the route. Andrew Brown, spokesman for Regus, said: "We are thrilled to be backing Cracknell and the HotChillee team. On an adventurous challenge like this, the team and the crew will need an office without frontiers and that's where Regus can help with the on-the-road office."
Web specialists Map My Tracks will provide real time tracking of the End To End Challenge. People will be able to follow Cracknell and the team as they power their way across Britain at www.hotchillee.com or www.mapmytracks.com
Photographer Michael Blann (www.michaelblann.com) will be photographing the HotChillee team along the route and pictures will be available at www.gettyimages.com/editorialimages/news
B-Spoke Bikes provided mechanic support for the event.
The Twitter hash tag for the HotChillee record attempt is /e2er