James Cracknell and Rebecca Romero aiming at LeJog tandem record

22 comments
By Rob Spedding, Cycling Plus | Sunday, Jul 26, 2009 9.00am

Olympic individual pursuit champion Rebecca Romero and double gold winning rower James Cracknell are to make an attempt on the Land's End to John O'Groats mixed tandem record on August 3, 2009.

The record attempt marks the launch of the first ever Deloitte Ride Across Britain, a mass participation event from 12-20 June, 2010 that aims to raise £1 million for the ParalympicsGB charity.

Romero and Cracknell hope that beating the current End-to-End record of two days, three hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds – set by Andy Wilkinson and Lynne Taylor in 2000 – will encourage teams and solo riders to sign up to ride over 900 miles in nine days next June.

Cracknell, who since retiring from elite rowing has rowed across the Atlantic and trekked to the South Pole with British TV presenter Ben Fogle and completed numerous long-distance cycling events, readily admits that the Deloitte Ride Across Britain – organised by his own company Threshold Sports – is inspired by the 3000-mile Race Across America (RAAM).

"I was seriously considering entering the RAAM," Cracknell told BikeRadar, "For a number of reasons it didn't happen, but then I got to thinking that it'd be spectacular to have a similar event in Britain."

Cracknell hopes that the first Ride Across Britain will attract around 500 riders. It will consist of nine stages averaging around 110 miles and, rather than taking the most direct route from John O'Groats to Land's End – the opposite direction to Cracknell and Romero's ride – has been mapped specifically to take entrants through some of Britain's most scenic areas.

Cracknell says that he wants the event to appeal to a large number of cyclists. "We want general sports fans and cyclists of different abilities to take part," he said. "Whether you're a regular rider or a just a ‘Sunday cyclist' the supportive nature of the event and opportunity to participate in teams means that it's very accessible."

At the end of each stage – which will include two pit stops for refuelling and relay changes – riders will stay in base camps. Cracknell hopes that these ‘tented villages' will add to atmosphere as well as providing food and accommodation they will also allow competitors to get to know each other and catch up with friends and family.

To find out more about the Deloitte Ride Across Britain event visit www.rideacrossbritain.com.

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User Comments

There are 22 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 22 of 22 comments

  • Cracknell is such a tosser

  • What an insightful comment el_presidente. How much money have you raised for charity recently?

  • Sorry Flashman old bean, I was in a bad mood this afternoon. I've been watching that On Thin Ice programme where Cracknell walks to the South Pole with Fogle, and he comes across as very arrogant and obnoxious. That is probably the attitude you need to succeed as a top sportsman though. I take back my comments as long as he lets Rebecca drive ;)

  • if his company organises the event and he takes a salary from the company (which he may not), then he would be profiting from charity,

  • It's GBP1000 to enter as well!

  • @el_presidente

    fair enough, I sort of agree about the way he comes across in on thin ice, but I think it's probably just the sort of stubborn, arrogant approach to challenges you would find in most professional sports men and women. I'm sure that doesn't make it any easier to live with though!

    Amt27 - Not sure how that is the case. The event is raising money for charity, and Deloitte are the organisers. They won't be making any money from this (other than the benefit of the exposure, which, lets face it, is going to be relatively low for something like this) so I'm not sure how Cracknell would be profitting at the charities expense.

  • sounds awesome, i have always wanted to do that route but the nightmare of logistics has always stopped me, now with having someone else organise everything and with support vehicles, mechanics, medics etc, i think i may do it

    also as for the money, it would cost about the same to do it on your own, factor in all the b and bs plus all your meals, and £1000 doesnt seem that bad.

    I reckon there will be great camaraderie as well.

    I think i am gonna sign up.

  • sounds awesome just done jogle june gone, this sounds good and the 1000 isn t that bad as it does cost getting on for that plus you can raise money to help pay for that, funny how people think he s arrogant seems to me he s just very determined and achieved some awesome things in his life not sure how you can knock that

  • coxy - raise money to help pay for it? surely any money raised must go to the charity?

  • To be truthful I'd be gutted if they do because I know Andy Wilkinson, and the bloke is a absolute legend..........

  • I'll be very surprised if they get anywhere near it.

  • James is referring to TEAM RAAM as his inspiration here. The riders race in teams of 4 and cover approximately 750 miles each, not 3000+ miles ....You have to qualify to enter the solo RAAM, and he has not qualified as yet and so could never have ridden it this year anyway. LeJog is completely different to the RAAM.

  • Why is everyone so down on James

    The man is a legend, he has achieved far more than most of us will ever. I really admire the bloke.

  • Cracknell is an excellent athlete - no arguing there. His cycling record isnt anywhere near Wilkos though. If Hoy announced he was gonna break a British Rowing record - I reckon he'd get the same amount of ribbing.

  • cougie - I'd back him, if he was doing it with a rower. If Fogle/Cracknell can do as well as they did I'd bet Hoy et al would do bloody well. Lest we forget Hoy is a former rower himself - silver medal in the men's junior coxless pairs at the National Championships!

  • I reckon he'll slow Rebecca Romero down.

  • he did te etape in under 6 hours. awesome performance for a guy weighing 15 stone!

  • "not a cyclist"

    He did the first day of the London to Paris this year, 9 minutes quicker than anyone!

  • Blimey - he did do well in the etape - 6hrs 27 according to the records. Very good placing - 356th overall.

  • The guy doesn't feel very often, and Romero is a real winner with a driven attitude aswell. I think that they'll struggle to beat this one, but good luck to them.

  • ooops, that should have said fail...... I bet it got Rebecca Romero worried for a bit :)

  • R3 guy when we did jogle we used some of the money raised to cover fuel costs etc, we have raised over 5000 quid for charity but we wouldn t have been able to afford it if we didn t use some money to cover costs, therefore the charity wouldn t have got any money, see my point ? agree with you legend cracknell

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