- The guy's got 18,000 miles in his legs.
And I've been riding with Matt and Dan for a week.
(upbeat music)
Earlier this summer, I had probably the toughest day
I've ever had on a bike.
I joined Mark Beaumont on the first day
of his round the world record breaking attempt.
After 386 kilometres, I completely cracked
and got in the car, whilst he forged on,
slept for about five hours,
and then did exactly the same thing again the next day,
and then the day after that, and then the day after that,
until here we are, 79 days later.
And we're waiting on a slightly random stretch of road,
about 120 kilometres south of Paris,
waiting for the man himself.
A man who's literally just cycled around the world
to get here, an utterly remarkable achievement.
We are fortunate that we've been invited along
to join him for this final stretch
and hopefully we're going to find out
a little bit more about just what it takes
to cycle 29,000 kilometres in just 79 days.
Here he is, I'm going to be late again.
Oh God, it's like last time.
He left me at lunch because I was so late.
Right, what side of the road you're on?
Hello mate.
- Long time no see.
- Oh my God, mate.
- You well?
- Yeah, I'm alright, more to the point, how are you?
- I'm alright.
- Are you?
- Yeah. Not complaining.
(upbeat music)
- Mark, I can't quite say congratulations
because you're actually not in Paris yet,
and I do not want to jinx you,
there is quite a strong curse that hangs over GCN.
But, what kind of frame of mind are you in now,
just how tired are you after what you've done?
- I mean, the adrenaline of today means that
I'm just on a high.
I mean the emotion today is relief,
I know I'm not done yet but, you know,
60 miles that way is Paris.
In 30 miles time I'll clock over 18,000 miles,
which is the important bit.
I need to do more than 18,000 miles for the record.
I mean I can tell you honestly, since you last rode with me
on the 2nd of July, I have not slept
for more than five hours.
And I've been on my bike for 16 hours every day, at least.
So, yeah, I mean I've been to depths of hurt
and sleep deprivation and suffering
that I've never been to in my entire life,
I'm sure this is the hardest bike ride,
the hardest thing I'll ever do.
- Well, to put it in context, day one was the hardest
bike ride that I've ever done and hopefully
will ever do, so uh, yeah, 79 of them back to back.
- But, you know, important to say, you know I've
suffered on the bike, but equally for the first time
I could not have done this, I could not break this record
without these guys.
It's been an amazing team effort,
and I worried actually that, you know,
I'd be a bit of a loner out there on my bike,
so used to doing the self-supported bike packing,
and that this pressure cooker situation,
living in an RV just riding, I've loved it.
I've absolutely loved it.
We've had different teams for each leg,
apart from, you know, Laura, who's my performance manager,
and I just couldn't do it without her and the other guys.
The camaraderie has been the biggest part
of the journey for me.
- Alex, team mechanic.
Technically, your job hasn't finished yet,
because you're still not in Paris,
but can you tell us some tech stuff.
How many punctures has Mark had in 18,000 miles?
- [Alex] 15, 16
- That's not bad, riding around the world.
What about chains then?
How many times you replace them?
- We were expecting the chains to last a week,
and they kind of, they were eight days.
So we ended up doing about, I think 10 chains.
Which was kind of what we thought.
- Any cassettes, chain rings?
- Uh, yeah cassettes every two or three chains,
depending, so about, I think we're on
the third outer and second inner, I think.
And cassettes, five maybe.
And obviously we're cleaning it all the time,
apart from when I'm having an interview.
- Yeah, of course.
(laughing)
I'm gonna let you get back to it.
But otherwise, the only problem I can see is that
his saddle looks a bit sad.
- Yeah, his saddle broke.
The front end of his saddle fell down.
It's a bit of a shame.
- It happens to all of us after 18,000 miles.
Right, so Laura, you are probably the main person
responsible for keeping Mark on the road.
I mean you've even preformed emergency dental surgery
on this trip, which is pretty impressive.
Have there been times when you've generally been
concerned for his welfare, like he's gone so deep.
- Um, yeah, there's been definitely
a couple of big dips that we've had.
I mean even just what, two days ago, three days ago,
he got on the bike on the morning and then
he had his first bout of sickness that he's had
this whole trip.
And that sickness through him into a real energy
dip low, like I really struggled to fuel him.
You know, you've just go to go with whatever you
feel like you can eat at that time.
And I just, yeah, we're trying as much as we could.
But you also had a massive hilly day that day,
without fail, the thing the thing that's ultra endurance
is mental head space, attitude, belief in what you're doing,
and being able to keep that clear mindedness,
and that's what he's got in abundance.
(upbeat music)
- Well, 78 days, about 14 hours ago,
Mark left this very place by the Arc de Triomphe
to ride around the world.
And here he is, having absolutely nailed it.
An incredible achievement.
I almost can't comprehend quite what he's done,
given that I tried one day and it was
the hardest thing I've ever done,
and he has backed it up, day after day,
sleep deprived, just a remarkable achievement.
I'm sure you'll join me in giving him a big thumbs up.
Totally, totally amazing.
Right, all that remains I guess is to say
subscribe to GCN if you don't already.
If you want to see some more content
obviously there's that very first day with Mark Beaumont
where we joined him for the beginning of his ride,
so click just down there for that one.
Or for this week's GCN show where we'll be keeping up
today with all his progress, click just down there.