Congratulations to the team of: Louise Gibson, Jessica Fawcett, Rhian Denton, and Jules Cass for their new 4-person team WUCA World Records on 2021-06-28
Rider Report:
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We are the InternationElles, an all female cycling team based around the world, joined in the fight for equality in our sport. Covid scuppered our plans to head to ride the full route of the Tour de France for the 2nd year in a row but we weren’t going to let that stop us from doing something amazing. We wanted to get people talking about what women were capable of and to break a record, so 4 of the UK riders decided to attempt the fastest 4 person relay for Lands End to John O’Groats.
We decided to split the distance equally between us, shorter shifts to start at about 1hr 15, moving to about 2hrs 30 until the last couple of hours that we took about half an hour each.
The weather was not on our side at all. We had terrible rain to start with and for large chunks of the first night. The second night was short because we got up north so quickly and it stays light up there for so long! Headwinds in Scotland were brutal around the Aviemore area, but the weather improved from there.
The follow vehicle was an absolute blessing in both protecting us and letting people know what we were doing so we got support rather than abuse! We were incredibly lucky to only suffer from 1 puncture and 1 mechanical, both fixed quickly by our mechanic.
We were also lucky one team member is a physio and treated Jess who was struggling with her back after a large stint of climbing in the Lake District. Rhian had a couple of emotional episodes after a speed wobble on an early stint and some horrible head winds. Louise also suffered from those headwinds which made for a particularly gruelling 6th stint and didn’t have a dry stint at all! Jules was the rider to suffer a puncture, so all 4 riders had issues to overcome, but overcome it and smash the record we did!!!
We had been set a target of 50 hours, but were aiming for 48. We were delighted to complete the full distance of Lands End to John O’Groats in 46 hours and 3 minutes!
We were joined by Francis Cade who made 2 videos on our attempt:
If anyone is thinking of going for a World Record we say GO FOR IT!!!! WUCA have been amazing guiding us through the process and ensuring we were ready and safe to attempt something incredible!
Rider Strava & Instagram profiles:
Louise Vardeman: https://www.strava.com/pros/4532614
https://www.instagram.com/loukew/
Jess Fawcett: https://www.strava.com/athletes/5874524
https://www.instagram.com/jessfaw/
Rhian Denton: https://www.strava.com/athletes/12024160
https://www.instagram.com/rdenton29/
Jules Cass: https://www.strava.com/athletes/16486289
https://www.instagram.com/julz_cass/