New Zealander Becomes First In The World To Cycle The Length Of Australia Non-Stop

On Thursday 30 May at 6.40pm ACDT Joanna Sharpe became the 1st person to cycle the length of Australia, against the clock, Darwin to Adalaide via Uluru in 11 Days 11hrs 54mins, a journey of over 3700km. Setting a new World Record.

Joanna and her support crew battled 5 days of wild fires, kangaroo strike, snakes, road trains, extreme head winds and the high heat of the outback to cycle the distance with Joanna sleeping merely 3 hrs a day. The environment is so remote that they often saw no other traffic and had no cell phone reception and very limited access to water, fuel and supplies during the trip. The crew had to carry everything they may need in the follow camper vans often going long period between any services . This record, having been tried by others before, had not been achieved until now and Joanna says it was certainly the most challenging environment she has ever encountered. “ the sunrises and sunsets were exceptional with Uluru a total highlight but the environment is certainly unforgiving and I had to stay strong and focussed to achieve my goal. There were many times I was hallucinating and at times a lot of pain but it was all worth it. I am so very proud of all the crew for their tireless work to make this happen and am really proud to be able to say a small kiwi crew and I achieved the seemingly impossible”

Recovery may take a while as Joanna suffered a number of injuries resulting from cycling in the same position on a long strait flat road for almost 12 days so a bit of time off the bike is on the cards. Undoubtably Joanna will be back with another cycling challenge in the future though so watch this space.

A documentary film has been made of the world record and will be released towards early 2025.

Joanna is an ultra distance cyclist from Coromandel Town New Zealand with a number of world records all to raise awareness and funds for Bowel Cancer NZ

Please follow Joanna @sharpejoanna on Instagram for more information on her recent world record and future adventures

In Joanna’s Bio you will find a link to make a donation to Bowel Cancer NZ

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