Cycling Grandfather Breaks Another World Record sports-masters August 5, 2020 Breaking News, Featured, Health, Road Cycling 975 Arvid Loewen is a Super Hero! This 63 year old Canadian grandfather of 11 has become a world record holder for the second time in late July after unofficially breaking the Guinness Book World Record (GWR) for the farthest distance cycled in a 30 day period. Loewen set a new mark of cycling a total of 11,616 km beating the previous record of 11,315 km, set by Mark Beaumont of the UK in 2017. Loewen was not required to bike internationally to beat the record and did so by cycling a route between Winnipeg to Lockport, Manitoba which ended being close to 450 laps. Loewen spent 16-17 hours on his bike each day and travelled roughly 390 kilometres every day through the month of July. While he said he felt tired, he was also fortunate to have suffered no injuries along the way. “Manitoba has a lot of wind, and cyclists are always whining and complaining about wind. And I’m no different, so that was hard,” Loewen said. “But we also had four days of pretty extreme heat, so it was tough to get through those days.” Raising money for Kenyan children’s rescue Since 2005, Loewen has helped raise more than $8 million for Mully Children’s Family, a street children’s rescue mission in Kenya through his extreme cycling ventures, including between $300,000 and $400,000 with this latest endeavour. Loewen still holds the record for the fastest bike ride across Canada which he set in 2011 when he travelled from Vancouver, B.C., to Halifax, N.S., in 13 days, six hours and 13 minutes. Previous world record holder offers his praise to Loewen Mark Beaumont of the UK, who previously held the world record sent his congratulations to Loewen for breaking his three year old record. Beaumont is a broadcaster, author, and speaker on top of being an extreme athlete and continues to hold a few Guinness World records, including cycling around the world in just under 79 days back in 2017. “I had heard about Arvid’s incredible feat of endurance,” Beaumont says, “a huge congratulations.” Compared to Loewen’s current age of 63, Beaumont was 37 years old when he achieved the GWR by cycling 11,315 km in 30 days. Beaumont is no stranger to the physical toll an event like this is on the body. “It is hard to imagine for most people what it is like averaging nearly 400 km every day for a month, unless you have done this even once,” says Beaumont. “Being able to wake up a few hours later and do the same again and again for weeks take massive mental fortitude as well as physical resilience.” Beaumont says, “Arvid’s achievement shows that endurance is the great leveler. Young or old, male or female, we can all learn to go further, to endure – and what an inspiring story for his kids and grandkids – that man now has a superpower!” And the accolades just keep on coming. . . It was also announced this week that Loewen was awarded the first ever PowerDot Grand Tour Champion. Here is their statement:“Not only did this 63 year old grandfather of 11 outwork everyone else in the world to be crowned the first ever #PowerDotGrandTour champion, but he also set a World Record in the process. But, as we peeled back the layers on Arvid’s life it was clear this was only a small part of his mission.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Arvid has dedicated the recent years of his life to something much bigger than himself and cycling. Arvid has become a full time volunteer for @mullychildrens_family, a non-profit organization set to help children in Kenya get off of the streets. Through his ultracycling Arvid has raised $8M to feed starving children, and conquered some of the most grueling challenges you could imagine. Like riding across Canada in 13 days, 6 hours, and 13 minutes, or completing the RAAM twice. Since 1995 Arvid has cycled roughly 400,000km.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you are interested in learning more about Arvid Loewen or his charitable work, visit http://grandpascan.com/
