Squidgy World Record Breakers!

Been to the National Cycling Centre Velodrome at Manchester today to spend an hour on an energy generation measuring exercise bike.

The Velodrome

It was all part of an attempt to break the World Record for the amount of energy generated by cyclists in a 24 hour period.  The old record was 18,000 Watt Hours.

Soreen sponsored the event which consisted of 50 or so exercise bikes arranged in the centre of the velodrome track, with participants booking half hour slots on the bikes over the 24 hours from 5pm on Friday 1st Oct to 5pm on Saturday 2nd.  It's a great venue - the place where the British Olympians such as Will Hoy, Brad Wiggins, Nichole Cooke and Victoria Pendleton train on a regular basis - there were cyclists whizzing around us on the wooden banking during the event.

The Last 30 Minutes of 24 Hours

I signed up for the last hour hoping that there would be pressure on and there'd be some tension in the air to see if the record would be broken.  However, the record went at 8pm on the Friday evening, so it was all about seeing how high the bar could be set by the 500+ riders for anyone attempting to challenge in the future.

Energy Supplies

In The Front Row

There was a great atmosphere as we approached the final few minutes with lots of applause from the spectators / supporters.  Resplendent in our yellow Soreen t-shirts (!) the record was set at over 72,000 Watt Hours, but even better than this, £10,000 was raised for The Christie cancer care charity - quite a result.  Guiness World Records were there and verified the record with the 4 riders who had been there for the 24 hours joining the Soreen CEO on stage to receive the record certificate.  Results here.

Celebration

 I must mention colleague and friend Stuart who was one of the 24 hour riders.  Magnficient effort Stuart - impressive on determination and athleticism!

Stuart

Neil and Stuart - 1 Hour vs 24 Hours!

Guiness World Record Confirmed, and the Four 24 Hour Riders

So now we can both say we've broken a World Record at the velodrome in Manchester!  Image of the World Record certificate here.

There are some more photos from other participants here.