The ultra-cyclist Christoph Strasser is well ahead of his 7 day goal to break the “World Record Down Under powered by owayo” – to ride the 3,950 km from Perth to the Sydney Opera House non-stop on his bicycle. After almost three days he has just passed Ceduna in South Australia and the 2,000 km mark after crossing the Nullabor Plain yesterday and overnight in heavy rain.
The Austrian Christoph Strasser and three-time Race-Across-America winner wants to break the record to ride across Australia in under 7 days to achieve an entry into the Guinness Book of Records. Strasser started his trans-Oz ride on Tuesday at 2pm local time in Perth and has been riding consistently and supported by a crew of eight, including a video production team, photographer, doctor and mechanical support.
Currently his average speed is about 30km/h and he is tracking more then 10 hours ahead of his personal goal and even more time ahead of the current World Record by Gerhard Gulewicz, another Austrian, who set it in 2007. “He didn’t get slower across the Nullabor, on the contrary”, reported his crew from the road. “The heavy rain was tough, but actually playing it Christoph’s favour as it kept the temperatures lower than we expected. Although the weather is extremely annoying, he averaged 31km/h for the previous 200K.” , they said. The first longer sleeping break of about an hour, Strasser had after 48 hours. “
All eyes are on the custom-tracking application by “Tractalis” who have designed it to follow the World Record ride. “We knew that until the 2,000km mark the G3/G4 networks would be patchy, so the signal strength of our devices is sometimes not transmitting data”, says Guenter Wagner from the live-tracking service. The data for the trans-Australian ride is recorded via smartphones and saved and then transmitted as soon as the network is up again. “This will then also be used by the team to proof the data to the ‘Guiness World Records’-Organisation after the ride”, he explained.
What’s ahead
At this pace, the brave rider and his crew are scheduled to pass Port Augusta by midnight today, Friday, 13 January 2017 and riding on towards Mildura and Victoria. The route to Sydney will run via Wagga Wagga, Gundagai, Yass, Gourlbourn and Campbelltown towards the Sydney Opera House.
Follow the “World Record Down Under powerd by owayo” LIVE:
Live-GPS-Tracking: http://live.tractalis.com/cs2017/
Free Photos/Copyright: Manuel Hausdorfer/limeART
Free Video Footage: Groox Film Productions
Please contact me for FTP server access details.
About Christoph Strasser:
* Born: 4 Nov 1982, Austria – The 34-year old ultra-cyclist was born in Austria and caught the riding bug as a cycle courier in Graz, Austria.
* Why Australia: “It’s a record that can be broken, I’d rather have it on my website than someone else’s.”
* Why January: “It’s a huge challenge and I am training with new equipment for the Race Across America.”
* About Australia: “I don’t know what to expect from traffic, wildlife and the night riding… but I am looking forward to seeing the stars above me at night, the Australian night skies that span the entire horizon – 360 degrees nothing but stars.”
* About Cycling: “I’m thinking about it day and night; I’m dreaming about it, am pedaling constantly.”
* Records:
– Race Across America Winner 2011, 2013, 2014 (7d 15h 56min)
– Race Around Austria Winner 2014, 2015, 2016 (3d 12h 41min)
– 24h World Record Road (2015/896.173km)
– 24h World Champion Road (2016, California – average 37.18km/h, ca. 260Watts across 24h)
Homepage: www.christophstrasser.at
Gallery of free photos: www.christophstrasser.at/pressefotos_pressearchiv/pressefotos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/christophstrasser.at
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