LONDON (Reuters) – Sixty-year-old British adventurer Neil Laughton has set a new record for the highest-altitude cycle ride after pedalling a fold-up bike on top of a 7,246-metre Nepalese peak.
Laughton, a former Royal Marine Commando, rode and carried his Brompton bike to the snowbound summit of Putha Huinchuli over several days alongside Sherpa Nima Kanchla.
He then completed a short cycle ride to beat the previous world record set at 7,211 metres in 2009.
“To get the Guinness World Record I had to cycle 20 metres (at the highest point),” Laughton told Cycling Weekly.
“At the top there was lots of deep snow so it was hard to get any great momentum particularly while we were near the summit. Riding down the mountain was very difficult.
“Obviously, mountain slopes are always very tricky, there are lots of rocks and holes to navigate.”
To prepare for his attempt, Laughton spent hours carrying his bike on an inclined treadmill while wearing an oxygen mask that replicated high-altitude conditions.
“There’s simply no terrain on Earth like the Himalayas, it’s just magical. But when you’re cycling you have to pay very close attention to the path ahead as you’re never more than a second away from disaster,” he said.
It was Laughton’s second world record after having the world’s highest dinner party 7,050 metres up Mount Everest in 2018. His latest adventure helped raised money for the Tenzing Norgay School based in the remote village of Karakot.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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