…or Crossing Europe On A Bike Called… Maggie? Perhaps not. Not on Maggie anyway. Sean Conway appears to have dumped poor Maggie for a newer model:

Back in July 2017 Sean attempted to break the record for the fastest crossing of Europe by bicycle and it featured in this article on CyclingEurope.org. Maggie was his bicycle of course but unfortunately his attempt to become a record breaker (I can’t read that without Roy Castle appearing in my ears singing it) ended after 800 miles and 4 days on the road. Sean had succumbed to an injury and the plan was abandoned.

But he’s back, on a seemingly un-named bike (naming your bike is clearly so last year darling…), to attempt the record again:

“It was a big decision to come back and give this record another go. I think too often people feel that if they don’t succeed with something then they have to give up. We are so used to hearing about success stories, what is often missed off is how many attempts they took to get there in the first place.

“I admit, I got things wrong on my last attempt of this record. My self-esteem was really low at the end of last summer when I had to withdraw but I picked myself up and thought long and hard about whether I should give this another go – what if I didn’t succeed again? Life is not all about winning and breaking records, it is about giving things the very best shot that you can, and being confident that you could not have done any more. That said, I’m determined to break this world record and I’ve been putting in a lot of work to help me achieve my goal.”

“I also hope to try to use this journey to encourage more people to not only embrace an active lifestyle but to consider travel by bicycle as it is just the best way to see the world. I’ve completed a world first and a world’s furthest but this is my first shot at a world’s fastest record and I can’t wait to get going.”

He sets off on Monday 16th April from Cabo de Roca in Portugal and aims to arrive in Ufa in Russia 25 days later after cycling 4,500 km. The current record stands at 29 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes. Sean is looking to knock over 4 days off the record. In order to do this, he will need to cycle roughly 180 miles a day, every day.

I’ll be honest; speed is not my thing and I continue to find Sean’s beard very annoying in the same way that I find Kim Kardashian annoying (it has no impact upon my life whatsoever but every time I see it/her I sigh and tut in a middle-aged way) but respect to what he is doing. I was in two minds as to whether to post something about this second attempt to break the record but then I read what Sean said above and I admire his honesty about how he felt after the first attempt. He’s gone up in my estimation so, despite the annoying beard, I wish him luck on his endeavour.

You will be able to follow his journey via his online tracker.