While others were preparing for a relaxed weekend of Easter chocolates, renowned Brisbane rider Joris van der Tang was setting off from Wulkuraka near Ipswich, ready to take on one of the biggest challenges in Queensland cycling, riding the Brisbane Valley and South Burnett Rail Trails to Kilkivan and back.
Joris was the first person to ride the BVRT end-to-end and back in under 12 hours, and he set a scorching pace heading north. He covered the 306km to Kilkivan in just 12hr1m39s, more than four and a half hours faster than the previous record set by Dan Graham in June 2019. Along the way he also broke the Kingaroy-Kilkivan record set by Mike Zande in May 2019 by almost 15 minutes. Unfavourable winds and difficulty finding food cost time on the return leg, with Joris resorting to riding through the Kingaroy McDonald's drive through at 1am. In spite of these difficulties, and "everything starting to hurt for the last couple of hours", Joris returned to Wulkuraka after 26hr54m34s, an astonishing 11 hours ahead of the previous record of 38hrs set by Jason Black in June 2019. Previous record holders such as Mike Zande have been quick to congratulate Joris on his "epic" and "phenomenal" achievement.
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