Michael is a lifetime adventure cyclist and has been competitive in endurance cycling events since 2009. He is now known for racing the longest and hardest endurance competitions available without a support team. He has won both the longest mountain bike race in the world, the Tour Divide – a single-stage unsupported race of 2745 miles and 200,000ft of ascent, and also the longest road bicycle ever staged, the original 18,000 mile World Cycle Race in 2012. Although Michael actually holds no official cycling records he has set times in both these races which have yet to be equaled with daily distances averaging 200 miles on and off-road.
“The format of a race, rather than an isolated attempt to break a record, is of much greater motivation for me. I enjoy the dynamic of the other racers and showing up on a given day to face whatever conditions are thrown at you, knowing that everyone faces the same. I also enjoy the uncertainty of what might happen. Not only was being involved in the first ever round-the-world bike race and being part of history an exciting prospect, but there were also people out there pushing each other to go faster and not just a static goal to beat by a few days. With so many more variables, this made the ride more unpredictable and meant we had to push hard from the start and hold on. It wasn’t cycling round the world like many would know it, but it was my kind of race.”
