22 hours of cycling a day for 6,000km: world record holder targets bottom to top of Europe challenge

Having conquered the record for cycling the length of the UK and back, endurance cyclist Dr Sarah Ruggins is taking her next challenge continental, setting out to become the fastest person to ride solo from the bottom to the top of Europe.

Ruggins, a PhD-qualified finance professional from Canada who is based in Gloucestershire, will start her attempt on 5 June in Tarifa, Spain, the southernmost point of mainland Europe, heading to her finish in Nordkapp in the north of Norway.

The route will cover more than 6,000km, climb 35,000m, and cross nine countries: Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Norway.

The current record is 16 days, 20 hours and 59 minutes, set in 2019 by a university psychology professor named Dr Ian Walker.

Ruggins intends to ride for “up to 22 hours a day”, according to a press release shared with Cycling Weekly, only sleeping in short bursts to maximise moving time. She took a similar approach to her 2,700km John o’ Groats to Land’s End to John o’ Groats (JOGLEJOG) record last May, which the then 37-year-old completed in five and a half days, with just eight hours’ sleep.

“On a ride like this, the hard part is staying sharp when tired,” said Ruggins of her latest challenge, which she is calling ‘One Way North’ (OWN).

“The record will come down to thousands of small decisions, repeated hour after hour.

“It’s about focusing on the controllables that allow you to keep moving forward when the environment is not in your favour and your mind is telling you to quit. I’ve learned you can outwork most challenges as they arise if you adhere to your process and not your emotions.”

Ruggins is raising money for World Bicycle Relief with her OWN challenge. The charity has been distributing bicycles to communities in Africa, Asia and South America for more than 20 years, and this week announced it had reached a milestone of one million bicycles. Ruggins hopes to raise £60,000, enough for 500 more.

“This is more than a record attempt,” Ruggins said. “I want to show what’s possible when life doesn’t go to plan. We can use what’s given to us to raise awareness around the power of a second chance.”

A former track runner, Ruggins was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition, when she was 15, leaving her bed-bound and dependent on a wheelchair to get around. “It’s one of the most painful conditions known to modern medicine,” she told Cycling Weekly last year.

It took 10 years before the Canadian could return to sport. She then bought her first adult bike in her mid-30s, and has since become a record-breaking endurance cyclist.

Donations can be made to World Bicycle Relief through Ruggins's record attempt website.