‘We still don’t know what women are capable of’ – Endurance rider aiming for sub-48 hour LEJoG record

Scottish gravel rider and endurance cyclist Caroline Livesey has announced an upcoming attempt to set a new women’s speed record for riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Edinburgh-based Livesey, who this summer smashed the women’s record for the North Coast 500, is planning to begin her LEJoG ride in June 2027, and she is once again using the record-targeting ride as a way to raise money for Peak Education, a charity she set up to assist children get access to schooling in Nepal.

The existing women’s record on the 874-mile (1407km) route is 51 hours, 5 minutes and 27 seconds, set by another Scottish rider, Christina Mackenzie, in July 2021, but Livesey says she is aiming to do the famous route in under 48 hours.

“The men broke the two-day barrier back in 1905,” Livesey told Cycling Weekly. “I’m not the first woman to attempt it, but no one has succeeded yet. It’s an incredibly fast time, but that’s what I am training for, and I have to plan for it from the beginning, setting my schedule accordingly, and really going for it. Because if I don’t, it won’t just magically happen.”

“We still don’t know what women are capable of, especially slightly older women,” says Livesey, who will be 48 by the time she sets off, in June. “So I am going to find out.”

An accomplished gravel rider and extreme triathlete, Livesey is timing her end-to-end FKT attempt around the summer solstice, for maximum daylight hours. However, the exact departure date will be determined by the weather conditions at the time. “I need a tailwind for at least half the way,” she laughs. “I have a window of time I can use. Around 8 June would be ideal, because there will be less traffic on the roads, especially in Cornwall, with school half term having just ended.”

As she did for the North Coast 500 record, Livesey will be riding two bikes during her supported LEJoG expedition, a road bike and a time trial (TT) bike. While training for the NC500, she successfully sought to avoid suffering the worst of the neck pain that can come with long periods spent in the TT position by strength training with weights hanging off her head, and she is taking the same approach for this ride.

“End-to-enders often say ‘anyone can ride Land's End to Perth’,” Livesey tells me. That’s about 980km up the country, or two-thirds of the total distance to John O’Groats. “Lots of people give up there, because of things like severe neck pain and muscle fatigue.”

“I’m not actually so worried about that bit, because I’m from Scotland, and I know those roads. And I love the Highlands. I’m more worried about the first bit, so part of my preparation will be doing training rides and driving the route from Land’s End to Bristol. I really don’t want to get lost – I don’t have a margin of error built in for that.”

Livesey will be supported by many of the same people that crewed for her during the NC500 ride, but this time, as well as having representatives from the World Ultra Cycling Association (WUCA) in attendance, she will also have monitors from Road Records Association (RRA) with her, tracking her every move and making sure no rules are broken, so it can be registered as a world record. If and when she makes it.

Watch this space for more coverage.