By Monica Eden
North West cyclists powered by Soreen fruit loaf pedalled around the clock to smash a World Record and raise £10,000 for Christies at Manchester Velodrome on October 1 and 2.
Over 500 volunteers cycled for at least 30 minutes each on high tech Watt Bikes to break the Guinness World Record for the most amounts of watts generated by bicycle over 24hrs.
Manchester based Soreen organised the event to promote their new range of loaves.
Kat Collins, Brand Manager, said: “Soreen is a quirky brand, we are the original malt loaf, so we wanted to create a bit of noise about this much loved brand which has got a little bit forgotten, but is very much still loved.”
The event raised a staggering amount of money for Manchester’s Christie Hospital which treats 40,000 patients a year from the North West and beyond.
The money raised will help fund cancer research and will also go towards equipment and facilities to make patients lives a lot easier.
Warrington mother Louise Jones said: “It’s for a brilliant cause, and half an hour on a bike isn’t going to kill me.
“It’s brilliant to be a record breaker you never get that chance in your life.”
The previous record set last year of 12,953 watts was reached on Friday evening but eager riders rode through the night to add to the huge final total of 71,188 watts.
Celebrity support came in the form of former athletics star and Ewan Thomas who helped boost morale and added to the wattage.
Stars of Sky 1’s Fat Families also sweated it out to become record breakers.
Some daredevil riders signed up for long periods of time including three who attempted a whopping 24hrs in the saddle.
One of those was long distance cyclist Stuart Kinsey from Macclesfield.
He said: “It has been really uncomfortable at times.
“But once you get past 40, you have to do things that you can do, I think it’s probably some form of mid-life crisis.”
Fellow 24hr competitor Carl Cleghorn from Sale added: “There has been a great morale, it’s been really good there has been a great atmosphere and everyone has been really friendly.
“It’s been a long time and it was hard, I’m going to go home order a huge pizza and put my feet up, if I can sit down that is.”
