A TASMANIAN man has battled fatigue, aching limbs and blisters on his bottom to smash the world static cycling record.
Eddy Kontelj passed the previous record of 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds at 3.12pm in Burnie yesterday and is expected to keep on cycling until at least today to create a formidable target for potential challengers.
He started his mammoth journey on Monday, and is expected to cover more than 2500km before he leaves the saddle.
"It feels fantastic -- we put a lot of hard work into preparing for the event and to finally get there is a great feeling," Mr Kontelj said, still pedaling hard.
Under the terms of the Guinness Book of Records he had to maintain an average speed of 20km/h and was allowed one five-minute break every hour which he accrued for less than three hours sleep.
Mr Kontelj sounded remarkably upbeat for someone that had been up so long but it was a constant mental struggle for him to get so far.
"Initially for some reason I had a couple of days where I was suffering quite severe headaches, then came the tiredness and then finally blistering on my backside which was incredibly uncomfortable at first but I have been able to get through it," he said.
A massive support team, including a doctor, witnesses and moral supporters has been on hand throughout the record attempt, which took place at the Burnie Surf Life Saving Club.
Mr Kontelj and his team started preparing for the event last Christmas to raise awareness of depression and to raise money for Beyond Blue.
So far he has raised $60,000 of a $100,000 target.
Source: News.com
