A London bike mechanic is aiming to break the Land's End to John O’Groats and back again record that has been held since 2010.
The record involves riding from Land's End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland and then straight back to Land's End. A total of 1,880 miles/3,026 kilometres in under six days.
Ben Rockett, who completed the record in five days, 21 hours and eight minutes, holds the current record from 2010 and Berkeley will have to average 324.1 miles/521.6 kilometres a day to top it.
You might know Bruce Berkeley as cycle_dr1, who seems to have clocked more miles on Strava by Monday lunchtime than most will in a week. The New Zealander, who is now based in south-west London, currently averages 100 miles a day around his full-time job as a freelance bike mechanic.
Berkeley attempted the record in 2015 but had to pull out following a knee injury, and in 2016 aimed to break Tommy Godwin’s annual distance record of 75,065 miles/121,805 kilometres.
Less than three-weeks into the record last January the Ultra-Marathon Cycling Association announced they would not authorise the record attempt due to multiple technicalities. Berkeley vowed to continue, but ultimately abandoned the attempt.
Berkeley begins the record on Monday and is also aiming to raise money for the mental health charity M.I.N.D.
We wish Bruce the best of luck and will update you with his progress in the coming weeks.