Adventure activist smashes record

World record holder Queenstown mountainbiker Annie Ford is all smiles after obliterating her own...
World record holder Queenstown mountainbiker Annie Ford is all smiles after obliterating her own Guiness World Record at Coronet Peak. PHOTO: TRACEY ROXBURGH
She did not just break her own world record, she smashed it.

Queenstown adventure activist Annie Ford, 34, unofficially claimed the Guinness World Record for the most downhill on a bike in 24 hours at Coronet Peak about noon yesterday, when she completed her 101st lap, equating to 42,319m.

Her previous world record, set on the mountain in 2022, was 100 laps in 19 hours, after which she pulled out due to dangerous conditions.

Determined to this time go for the full 24 hours, Ford aimed to complete 120 laps, or 50,000m.

She achieved that about 3.10pm.

Still with energy to burn, she kept going, ultimately clocking up 133 laps, or 55,727m by 6pm, celebrating with a "shoey".

"[I’m] tired, happy, disbelieving of how well it went, overwhelmed with support," she said.

Ford set off at 6pm on Thursday, delaying her attempt by 24 hours due to forecast rain.

She dealt with "hectically bad" visibility through the night, noting in a video update she was in "survival mode" for most of the overnight laps.

"We had really heavy fog, so with lights you just can’t see — it was like a whiteout," she said after her record run.

"So very slow laps at night, and there was a lot of similarity, so it became a bit grindy and monotonous."

But as dawn broke, Ford found another gear, cheered on by a huge crowd of supporters, and made the most of the "hero dirt".

Her Santa Cruz bike was also tricked out with world-leading technology, including a highly-sensitive Sram braking system, which was much easier on her hands; extra-large rotors on the wheels, to help with heat dissipation and effectiveness; and a steering damper, which stabilised the bike and removed the "chatter" from the trail, reducing the feedback on her body.

Afterwards she said while her body held up incredibly well, her forearms were "terrible".

"I don’t have sore legs, or back, or neck or anything [but] the forearms got worked."

As part of her world record, Ford also aimed to raise raise $50,000 for Te Tapu o Tāne’s Project Tohu, the largest indigenous reforestation project ever undertaken in the Whakatipu.

As of yesterday afternoon, she had raised just over $30,000.

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz

 

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