Kurt Searvogel awarded Guinness World Record for distance cycled in a year

Hi, thanks road.cc for mentioning, at last, that I'm a certified world record holder for the distance cycled in a month.  How about doing an article about me, a real world record holder?

To all cyclists, my record is there to be beaten (hopefully by the same GWR rules that I had to comply to!).  Any questions, please put them on my blog:

janet30daycycle.blogspot.co.uk

I'm on Strava, www.strava.com/athletes/1170624

Yes, I know that my distance is nowhere near what Tommy Godwin, Kurt Searvogel and Steve Abraham did each month, but I'm the only person to have my month distance verified by any authority.

I think Bruce is just going for the strava challenges. He's not going to fulfil the Guinness criteria either. He's been good at getting sponsorship on the back of the record attempt and the 2 records that he doesn't actually hold but not so good at either sticking to the rules of the challenge or even deciding which challenge he's going for!

So it seems that Guiness will ratify a record done under different rules. That seems quite sensible to me, but it should be a different record, especially given the difference in drafting rules, which is significant.

I still don't see how Bruce can be going for the record with the rules laid out above. Maybe a change of rules is on the cards? Wonder if this would allow Kajsa Tyler to use drafting this year on the women's record?

So Berkeley isn't complying with the Guiness rules either?

I hope Road.cc will be following this up?

Bizarre. So what abut the recumbent he used ?

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/go/2015/01/09/cycling-mississippi-kur...

guinness have really gone downhill since the days of Castle and the McWhirters...

Yup Glen, that is the normal rules for any cycling record attempt. Both myself and Martin had very similar rules like this to follow when Chris Hopkinson was attempting the LEJOGLE records. 

UMCA are slightly more leniant when it comes to changing bikes. 

*edited, I had gotten two UMCA record attempt rule files mixed up, the HAMR states "There is no prohibition on drafting during this record attempt"

I registered this category with Guinness World Records early last year and have provided the guidelines below. I hope this answers everybody's queries.

Greatest distance cycled in a year (male)

Record definition

This record is for the greatest distance cycled within one year (365 days).
This is to be attempted by a male individual.
This record is measured in kilometres to the nearest 0.01 km, with the equivalent imperial measurement also given in miles.

Rules for Greatest distance cycled in a year

1. This record is for the greatest distance cycled within one year (365 days).
2. The same commercially available, unmodified bicycle must be used throughout the attempt. Repairs, such as tire replacement and chain replacement, etc. can be made but the frame must remain the same. If the bicycle is damaged beyond repair, video and photo evidence and an explanation of what happened must be submitted. It is up to Guinness World Records to decide if the reason is accepted.
3. Any route can be taken during the attempt.
4. There is no minimum daily distance but participant must cycle unaided.
5. The rider must ride for the complete year (365 days) from start to finish - i.e. should a rider not be able to go on for whatever reason, he/she may not be replaced.
6. The cyclist may be followed by a support vehicle but at no time between the start and finish of the journey may the participant or his/her bicycle be transported by this vehicle. If any of the support vehicles must travel in front of the cyclist they must be at least three vehicle lengths in front.
7. The entire journey must be tracked by an accurate, professional GPS device carried by the rider. As part of the evidence submitted, a printout of the GPS tracking data must be submitted. This must show the route taken, daily start and finish times, daily start and finish locations, and daily distances covered. .kml files must also be submitted.
8. Drafting: During the attempt, the challenger is not allowed the aid of drafting. If the challenger is travelling with a support vehicle or other rider(s), the challenger MUST remain a minimum distance of 5 bicycle lengths from the support vehicle or any other rider(s). The challenger must not travel next to the support vehicle or any other rider(s) throughout the attempt. If this rule is not followed, the challenger’s attempt will be disqualified.
9. A witness log book must be made available for independent witnesses to sign. The book should be set up so that each witness includes their name, the location, the date and time, their signature and their email address or phone number. For an attempt which is supported by a backup team, we would expect it to be possible to gain sufficient numbers of independent witnesses to enable verification for the entire duration of the attempt.
10. A log book should also be kept by the challenger. This is essentially a diary, and should include a) daily start and stop points; b) daily distance covered; c) any rest days taken; d) any notable occurrences during the attempt.

How in the hell has he managed that....

As Martin says, the guinness rules are totally different and that's why the UMCA set it's own rules rather than carrying over the guinness ones.

If guinness do accept this record, then there will be many more records they will HAVE to accept that they have previously denied the rightful holder of because it didn't fall within their rules.

Has anyone seen the rules for the guiness record?

I've read that it must be place to place and that no drafting is allowed - if this is the case then Bruce Berkeley is out of the running for this also.

Curious about Guinness, because they have/had very different criteria for the record. In particular you had to have the same bike the whole way through (barring mechanicals etc), and Kurt changed steed depending on mood.