From the team
Mike, Chris and Sigga are no strangers to the adventure biking world. Just over three months ago, Mike and Sigga, embarked on a 7,500 mile cross country motorcycle trip, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and back again, with the goal of raising money for a non-profit called “Seeds of Peace.” Chris has enjoyed adventure riding for almost 10 years now and considered one of most notable achievements to be serving as the crew chief of the 2005-2006 BMW Championship Racing Team.
“Beyond adventure, we also want to support a charity that matters to us,” said Reid. “Being that my father proudly served in the Navy for 20 years and retired as a disabled veteran, Homes for our Troops is a non-profit that helps those veterans who need it most.”
To learn more about Global Mike Reid and the Guinness World Record attempt visit http://globalmikereid.com/guinness-world-record/.
A team attempting to break the Guinness World Record for longest journey on a pocketbike stopped in Great Bend Saturday.
Americans Mike Reid and Chris Fabre and Icelandic adventurer Sigríður “Sigga” Ýr Unnarsdòttir embarked on a 1,554-mile journey from Middletown, Ohio, on Sept. 5, along with crew chief Aurelio Rodriguez.
They are averaging 150 miles a day on Honda CRF-50 minibikes. They plan to travel through nine states on their way to the Golden Aspen Motorcycle Rally in Mescalero, New Mexico, on Sept. 18. Their progress can be followed online with live satellite tracking at http://tracking.globalmikereid.com/.
Approaching Cheyenne Bottoms on K-156 Saturday morning, the team stopped to remove a snapping turtle from the highway. Later they stopped at Cerv’s convenience store in Great Bend for fuel and to snack on peanut butter sandwiches.
“Everything that we’re eating is plant-based,” Rodriguez said, noting the group includes two vegans, a vegetarian and one omnivore who is abstaining from eating meat on the trip.
During their travels they are supporting a non-profit organization, “Homes for our Troops,” which provides housing for homeless and disabled veterans. But they’re also out to prove that ordinary people can achieve their dreams, if they work hard enough.
“Setting a world record, for a lot of people, seems unattainable,” Reid said. He wants all of the dreamers out there to know it is not, “if you persist.”
“Anyone can do this,” Ýr said. “You just have to work hard for it.”
The Guinness World Record which the team seeks to break was set by Ryan Galbraith and Chris Stinson on Aug. 8, 2009, at a distance of 445 miles. According to the Guinness website (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) that 26-hour journey began in Colorado and ended in South Dakota.
The team set a 1,500 mile goal, noting that since the initial record was set there have been two attempts to break it, with the longest being 1,407.6 miles on July 20, 2014.
“I’ve been reading Guinness World Records since I was a child,” Fabre wrote for a team press kit. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
A lot of research went into assembling a team, finding sponsors and planning the trip, Reid said. They heard “no” many times for every “yes.” They approached 15 bike dealerships before they found one that would agree to sponsor them. They also had to study to the laws of each state they would travel through and modify the pocketbikes so they’d be legal on the highways.
They sent an initial request to Guinness in April and are documenting the trip.
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