Women ' s Year Record Broken January 2017 | 15
- Billie Dovey
Ms Tylen has been sharing her ride data with Guinness World Records and her achievement is expected to be verified at a later date . This is not as simple as it might sound . Kajsa ’ s blogpost of Thursday 29 September 2016 , illustrates the complications of validating records , and how Kajsa has shown strength and determination to overcome setbacks .
“ A few people have asked me how I feel about the American cyclist , Amanda Coker , beating Billie Fleming ' s mileage , so I thought I should share my feelings . I think what Amanda is doing is amazing and she is an incredible rider . If she carries on racking up the miles for the rest of her year she will smash the overall ( and men ' s ) UMCA ( UltraMarathon Cycling Association ) record held by Kurt Searvogel and surely set an unbeatable women ' s record in the process . This is truly astonishing and is a massive boost for women ' s long distance cycling .
As for myself ; I will carry on my record attempt for the Guinness record according to my original plan . I will clarify below :
In October 2014 I contacted Guinness to find out whether I could make a record attempt and get it ratified by them . They confirmed I could .
I was made aware of the UMCA ratifying the attempt also , but I decided to go with Guinness as that was the record I wanted .
The guidelines for the two organisations are different in a few significant ways : the Guinness guidelines do not allow drafting behind other riders , and they allow only one bike to be ridden for the entirety of the attempt . This attempt must be done on a standard , commercially available , bicycle and any modifications must be commercially available as well . The UMCA allow unlimited drafting and the attempt can be made on any bike , recumbents ( non-faired ) and tricycles included .
I began my Guinness World Record attempt on 1 Jan 2016 with the impression that anyone who wanted to take on the same record as me would need to go through Guinness .
Kurt Searvogel completed a yearlong attempt at the beginning of January 2016 that was ratified by the UMCA .
To my surprise , and against what I had been told by Guinness , Kurt ' s attempt with the UMCA was accepted by Guinness and he was given a Guinness World Record .
Subsequently , I contacted Guinness to find out what this meant for my record and was told that they would change my guidelines to match that of the UMCA . This was a huge disappointment for me as I had spent in excess of a year planning my attempt with the Guinness guidelines in mind . Had I decided to go with UMCA I would have planned it very differently . I appealed with Guinness who had meetings on the subject and consequently decided that the only fair way was to have two categories - one for UMCA guidelines , and one for Guinness guidelines . This fundamentally means that there are two records .
With regards to beating Billie Fleming ' s record - Billie ' s record was ratified by neither Guinness nor the UMCA , so it would be difficult to say that she set one or the other . As a result , I will be celebrating when I pass her mileage but will consider my record broken when I pass the 50,000kms that Guinness have set to secure their record .
Of course , it is up to each individual to decide how they see the records and I am in no way suggesting that the whole thing is not a bit of a mess . If , at some point , the records are merged , then I will be happy in the knowledge that I held the record for a few months , and that I achieved everything I set out to achieve - riding over 50,000kms in a year and in the process inspiring and motivating others to take on their own challenges .
For me this attempt is so much more than the miles ; it ' s an adventure that I may never experience again , and I will have stories to tell for years to come . Not only that , but I ' ve made some lifelong friends in the process !”
- Into the sunset