A Swiss endurance rider is aiming to break the ‘all continents’ world circumnavigation record by motorcycle
Swiss biker Urs Pedraita is preparing to ride a Cross Country motorcycle around the world in the fastest time possible.
The current record for riding in all continents (not just through two antipodal points) stands at 120 days and two hours. But Urs, known as ‘Grisu Grizzly’, wants to ride the 100,000 km in under 100 days, which will mean he’ll break the existing record by 20 days.
He will set off on the attempt in February 2016, starting and ending in Zurich, by riding an almost standard Victory Cross Country. Additional items added to the bike include a larger 33-litre fuel tank, a customised seat with a back support and two LED lights for better visibility during night rides.
Grizzly is currently part-way through a ride to Russia (from Zurich – Stockholm – Helsinki –Moscow – Odessa – Kiev – Vienna – Zurich). In July he sets off on another training ride from Zurich to Vladivostok and back, then in October 2015 he will ride from Kenya to Tanzania before the record attempt in February 2016.
Grizzly has completed big rides on Victory motorcycles before. The first was in 2013; a 9,000-mile, 37-day trip from Bern to Vladivostok and back… in the winter. He says the biggest threat on that trip wasn’t the cold, but the wolves that followed him. “I could only scare them away using the sound of my exhaust,” he says.
In 2014 he made an attempt on the world circumnavigation record (held by Kevin and Julia Sanders) and rode with his friend ‘Bulldog’ on two Cross Country motorcycles. Bulldog had an accident just before Berlin and ended up in hospital. Grizzly continued the ride alone and broke the record by about three days, finishing in 16 days, 12 hours and 19 minutes and covering 24,741 km.
More details will be released over the coming months about his ‘all continents’ attempt.
In the meantime there is a series of short videos describing the bike, the kit he’ll be using and his training plans.
