Trent U Student Breaks Guinness World Record for Indoor Cycling & Does It For Great Cause

Peterborough’s Travis Samuel balances the rigorous training and travel demands of being a professional cyclist with his studies at Trent University.

Faced with racing plans dramatically changed for the upcoming season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 25-year-old Business and Economics student and his teammates dedicated themselves to a new effort—a 24-hour continuous indoor cycling event, with the goal of fundraising for community hospitals and a possible shot at a Guinness World Record.

Travis Samuel (photo courtesy Trent University)

“I was all for launching a 24-hour ride for raising money for our frontline health care workers with my team Toronto Hustle,” says Travis. “As I started to do more and more research on what it was going to take to break the record, I started realizing that I could do it if I had everything go perfectly.”

Through online cycling software, he was able to ride virtually with his teammates and cyclists from around the world. Throughout the record attempt, members of the cycling community rode alongside on their home trainers encouraging him along the way.

(Photo courtesy Trent University)

After an incredible 24 hours on the bike, a mentally and physically exhausted Travis climbed off his bike, completing an incredible 1,008 km and breaking the previous Guinness World Record. He maintained an average speed over 42 km/h for the entire event, and we’re exhausted just writing that.

The community-driven event was also an amazing success in exceeding its initial fundraising goal of $10,000. After the campaign was completed, more than $210,000 was raised in support of the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation in Toronto to provide the necessary equipment to support frontline healthcare workers directly involved in COVID-19 patient care.

“I'm pretty speechless in what has happened over the past two weeks with the #CrushCOVID campaign,” adds Travis. “I just hope that our fundraiser will help ease the stress a bit off our healthcare workers.”

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