While some of us are thinking about doing something to get a bit fitter in the New Year, one man is taking it to extremes – by trying to break the world record for the longest time spent pedalling on an exercise bike.
Paul Magor is aiming to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Weston Hospicecare, and is already three days – and nights – in to his mammoth challenge. The logistics of the challenge are mind-boggling, but a small army of volunteers have come together, along with the staff at his local leisure centre, to support his epic ride.
The current world record for the longest time spent on a spin bike is 227 hours, and Paul is aiming to smash that and set a new world record of an incredible 280 hours. The Guinness World Record rules state that he can take a five-minute break every hour, but also that he can bank those five minutes if he pedals continuously through several hours.
So his plan is to do 24 hours on the bike without stopping, and then grab an hour and a half’s rest and sleep every night, before getting back on and starting again. He has to eat and drink and wash while on the bike, and he can’t just sit there either – the rules state he’s got to pedal the equivalent of 20 kilometers – or 12 miles – every hour.
Paul started on New Year’s Eve and did 32 hours straight, all through New Year’s Day, and because the time only counts if he’s on board and pedalling, it means if he’s going to break the world record he’ll have to still be pedalling long into Sunday, January 12.
The event is taking place around the clock at the Worle Centre, the community-run sports centre and gym, and Paul is being accompanied by regular spin bike classes that take place there. Supporters have signed up to ride with him during the day and evening, with witnesses and monitors sitting with him throughout the day and night to make sure he keeps going.
Speaking at lunchtime on Thursday, January 2, more than 36 hours in, he was already feeling it. “This is a huge challenge and I have spent months trying to prepare my body for what it is going through,” he told Bristol Live.
“I am almost two days in and, I’m not going to lie, I am aching. My legs are aching from the constant strain, but I have been blessed to have a lot of lovely visitors, supporters and witnesses come in to support me and cheer me on.
“There is still a long road ahead but I am determined to complete this challenge all while raising money for a worthy cause, Weston Hospicecare,” he added.
If he completes 280 hours while riding at an average of 20kph, he’ll have ridden the equivalent of 3,300 miles – roughly the distance from Worle to New York – without moving more than an inch on his spin bike.
The idea came from a world record spinathon he and the team at the Worle Centre completed in July 2023. Paul and the team broke the record for the longest running spin class, by pedalling as a group for more than 31 and a half hours, raising more than £35,000 for Weston Hospicecare in the process.
A group of fundraisers in Worle smashed the world record for the longest ever spin-a-thon in July 2023
Paul said he was inspired by that success, and it was Guinness World Records that suggested the latest challenge. “We raised just under £36,000 – that was absolutely incredible, and we didn’t expect that at all,” he told BBC Radio Bristol. “I came off the back of that on a bit of a high and thought ‘do you know I think I’d like to do something again’. We spoke to the Guinness World Records and they said ‘why don’t you try the longest static time on a spin bike?”
“I’m going to be sleeping in the Worle centre. I’m going to be doing that until a week on Sunday, when we actually finish on the day. You can’t really train for something that’s never been done before. What I’ve been doing is a lot of strength training, a lot of leg training, and then just a lot of spinning.
“It’s just me on the bike, but there are people around me. Within got 280 hours we’ve got 15 classes, everyone is coming along to sit with me. It’s going to be really epic over the next 11 or 12 days,” he explained.