Cracknell cranks it up

Cracknell cranks it up (Sport Relief©.)

James Cracknell, twice Olympic Gold winning rower for Great Britain, has almost completed the cycling leg of his three-part challenge to travel from southern England to northern Africa under his own steam in less than a week.

Cracknell began his challenge in aid of the BBC’s Sport Relief charity on 27 February by rowing 22 miles across the English Channel in six hours.

He has now almost completed the humungous task of riding 1400 miles through France to southern Spain, although he is a little way behind his target time of arriving at Isla de Tarifa on the sourthern Spanish coast in under five days – today is day six of the challenge.

James is updating his online diary of the challenge, and he commented on day five of the ride: “The Pyrenees took a lot out of me and I'm getting progressively more tired. I'm also starting to feel the pressure of staying on target with timings.”

Cracknell has opted for a mix of comfort and speed for his marathon cycle in the shape of a Giant TCR Composite. Comfort is what he’ll be needing, spending nearly twenty hours a day on the bike.

The last leg of the challenge will see him swimming the 12 miles between Tarifa and Punta Cires in northern Africa.

You can keep up-to-date with James’s progress on the website here, and discussion of the challenge is also rife over in the BikeRadar forums. 

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