'Unbreakable' World Record BROKEN by 52 Year Old Cyclist

Kurt Searvogel Breaks The Year Mileage Record on a Bicycle

Since 1939, the Highest Annual Mileage Record has been held by an Englishman named Tommy Godwin, who, when he was in his 20s, rode his bicycle 75,065 miles over the course of a single year. It's an achievement many said would never be surpassed.

“[The Record is] 75 years old and supposedly an unbreakable record, so I’m gonna prove them wrong,” Searvogel said during a short break before he set off for the last handful of miles in his journey.

Searvogel, a 52 year old software engineer started riding in Florida, with such a rapid pace that many believed he would burn out quickly. Amazingly, he often averaged over 20 mph for more than 12 hours at a time. In the spring, he rode back toward his home of Little Rock, Arkansas, and then migrated to Wisconsin, where he was born, during the summer. 

His 365-day expedition was tracked and certified by the UltraMarathon Cycling Association. He began last January at an annual long-distance ride in Jupiter, but the record fell at Flatwoods Park. Searvogel rode in eight states, had two collisions with cars, got married, and burned about 4 million calories.

On many of those rides, Searvogel was joined by local cyclists that had been following him on Strava, a social media site for endurance athletes.

By the end of the day Monday, he had ridden 75,117 miles. That's an average of 200 miles perday and between 12 and 14 hours a day in the saddle.

That's three times around the earth, or Miami to Jacksonville 217 times, or Miami to Seattle, Washington 22 times.

Now that Searvogel has broken the record, he said he’s on to do something different.

“This is it,” he said. “This is enough. I’ve wasted one year of my life. I think I should go back to doing something different.”

Searvogel hopes his ride inspires other people to dream big, and to work to pursue those dreams.

“You can do anything you want to do,” he said. “That’s pretty much it. You decide you want to do it, you just go do it. If you believe you can do it, you can do it.”

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