Chartered Accountant Jaimi Wilson takes on world record breaking challenge!
The concept of cycling around the world, self-supported may seem impossible to some but for Jaimi Wilson she aims to not only achieve this, but to break the world record at the same time, a very big challenge! On 14 June 2020 she will set off from Paris as one of the competitors in the World by Bike Challenge. This event demands competitor’s cycle 18,000 miles easterly around the world in one direction without going back. All competitors must pass through two antipodal point’s en-route, and all competitors must be fully self-supported. To add to this challenge, Jaimi is hoping to break the world record for cycling around the world which currently stands at 124 days, aiming to smash this and do it in less than 120 days, she is also one of the only females signed up to take part in the race!
The route she will follow is detailed below:
The race starts in Paris and travels through France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, finishing in Paris.
To take on this challenge and be fully self-supported Jaimi needs to raise around £20,000, with the help of us, Jaimi and our team will be taking part in a number of events over the next 10 months along with corporate opportunities, which will all aim to help Jaimi achieve this amazing personal challenge.
The first of these events was held on Saturday 31 August, where Jaimi was successful in Everesting Hartside. For those who have never heard of this term, it means that Jaimi cycled repeats of Hartside until she meets her target climb of 29,029ft – the equivalent height of Mt Everest (23.5 reps from Melmerby to the café at the top of Hartside!) Before Jaimi only 187 women had completed the Everesting challenge worldwide.
Starting at 4am it took her 21 hours and 15 minutes to complete it…19 hours and 40 minutes were in the saddle pedaling so she was happy with keeping the amount of time off the bike down. Jaimi went out setting a good pace but knew after 10 laps she was going to be in a bad way if she continued at that pace, so eased off a little as the event is all part of her training and didn’t want to injure herself and be put out of action for weeks! The hardest part was when the sun went down and everyone started to go home and she knew she still had 5 laps to go. Thankfully a couple more friends turned up after dark to cheer her on and really lift her spirits. There have only been 15 females in the UK who have successfully completed this challenge before Jaimi, she is stoked to join the club.
We will keep everyone updated with future events, watch this space …
So how can you help?
Please come and support Jaimi at any events we hold, this could be supportive cheering or getting involved in the challenge.
Alternatively you can sponsor Jaimi for her ultimate challenge next summer. If anyone would like to donate https://www.gofundme.com/f/race-around-the-world-by-bike
Follow along with Jaimi on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaimi.wilson/