Few people would contemplate cycling more than 200km on their 53rd birthday, but for Brisbane teacher Lesa Ashford it was just another day on the first women's Around Australia record attempt. At first surprised, then incensed, when she found out there was no existing women's record, she soon made her mind up to become the first. After more than a year of training, she set off from Brisbane just after 6am on March 8th, International Women's Day. Despite rain and headwinds, Lesa made strong progress up the east coast, before favourable conditions across the top end allowed her to punch out more than 1,700km in just 8 days. Lesa in Mackay with former team record holder David Arnold (left) Brutal heat and humidity, followed by road damage and unrelenting traffic forced slower going through Western Australia, followed by the despair of headwinds all the way across the Nullarbor, and bitterly cold temperatures across the southern states. On one hand, Lesa saw little favourable weather along the way, but in another sense she had extraordinary luck, with the roads to Mt Isa and Fitzroy Crossing reopening just in time, and Category 5 Cyclone Ilsa destroying the Pardoo Roadhouse just days after Lesa had passed through. Lesa's incredible determination, along with the support of her crew, and many followers meeting her along the route, kept her going, and she finally returned to Brisbane after 92d6hr32m. Due to navigation problems Lesa came up short of the minimum 14,200km distance, with a total of 14,061.52km. After extensive discussion, the committee of current and former record holders agreed that as there were no previous women's attempts on the record, all other requirements had been met, and the discrepancy was less than 1%, the RRAA was satisfied the spirit of the record had been met and an exception was made to allow Lesa's record to be ratified. All future record attempts, both male and female, must meet the minimum distance of 14,200km, along with the other requirements. In addition to raising awareness of women's sport, Lesa's record also raised awareness and funds for first responders. RRAA President Lachlan Davis at the finish line in Brisbane, presenting Lesa with the traditional gold pocket watch in honour of her achievement. History of the record
For more than 120 years, "The Lap" has been the pinnacle of Australian road cycling records. Since Arthur Richardson departed Perth in June 1899, not to return for 245 days, words like "grit", "determination", and of course "madness" have been used for the tiny number of riders to follow in his footsteps. Richardson's record was to be the most short-lived in the history of "The Lap", as only a few weeks later Donald McKay, riding in the opposite direction, completed the journey just 2 days faster. McKay's record stood for more than thirty years until unemployed 22 year old Melburnian Arthur Wakeling slashed the time to 133 days in 1931. With the 30s being the golden age of long distance records, Arthur could well have expected his record to soon be beaten. Instead, it was more than half a century until 65 year old Jack Griffin lowered it to an even 100 days in 1985, followed the same year by 54 year old Ian Hay with an 80 day circuit. In 1989, Western Australian Rod Evans took the lap to a new level, with a time of 49d22hr31m. He would go on to be named Australian Cyclist of the Year after breaking the world 24hr track record. German rider Hubert Schwarz lowered the record to 42d8hr25m in 1993. Up to this point, there had been no official ratification of the records, with distances varying from more than 18,000km, to 14,100km. In 1996, the Charters Towers Cycling Club, preparing for an attempt on the team record, formalised the record with Guinness and Cycling Australia, setting mandatory checkpoints and a minimum distance of 14,200km. In 1999, Canadian Perry Stone took just over 15hrs off Schwarz's record, a time that stood until 2011 when Dave Alley of Brisbane set the current record of 37d20hr45m for a distance of 14,251km. The unsupported (upright bike) record stands at 51d47m, set by Danish rider Erik Staarup in 2008, the unsupported (recumbent) record was broken in 2022 by Irishman Bryan Taaffe with a time of 43d23hr1m over a distance of more than 15,000km.
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