The cyclist aiming to smash the women’s year long record is well on her way to victory after close to one hundred days of riding.
We interviewed Kajsa Tylen before she set off on her record attempt on New Year’s Eve. On Saturday she’ll have reached the 100 day mark and she’s well on the way to breaking the record of 31,069 miles (50,000 kilometres).
Tylen is using her ride to inspire women across the World to get active, too – she’s asking for us all to make ‘sweat pledges’ to raise money for individual charities and encourage us to break through the boundaries of what we thought possible.
The existing record was set in 1938 by Billie Flemming, totaling 29,603 miles. However, to achieve a new Guinness World Record Tylen needs to cover over 31k miles – which is equivalent to one and a half times around the world’s equator.
So far, Strava data tells us that 39-year-old Tylen has ridden 8,255 miles, spending 682 hours in the saddle, despite high winds and wet weather over the first quarter of the year.
Taking about the attempt, Tylen said: “People have asked me why I believe that I can achieve this. This isn’t exactly straightforward to explain, but I believe in myself and have the confidence that I can set a new world record. It is not a challenge I am taking lightly, there has been a lot of planning and a detailed training plan, beyond that the rest will be psychological”
She added: “Apart from highlighting the tremendous achievements of Billie Fleming last century and hopefully setting a new world record, I am hoping that this challenge will be a life-changing experience and will open many doors. I am also particularly keen on encouraging others to take up fitness challenges and their pledges of commitments to exercise will spur me on while I’m riding all those thousands of miles.”
