Cycling: The extreme athlete Christoph Strasser can't help it: the new year has barely started when the first highlight of 2017 is already on the agenda: crossing Australia. The Austrian would like to be the first person to complete the 3.950-kilometer route in less than a week. The starting signal for the mammoth non-stop tour will be given in a few days on January 10th.
The tour departs from Perth's Cottesloe Beach and travels to the world-famous Sydney Opera House. The Perth-Sydney route is known to Austrians primarily through former extreme cyclist and RAAM winner Wolfgang Fasching. In 1998 the Styrian broke the previous record of Hubert Schwarz from Germany with 7 days and 19 hours. This record lasted until 2007, when Gerhard Gulewicz set a new best time of 7 days and 8 hours. This is still valid today!
The Austrian can expect 16.000 meters of altitude in his record attempt - that's about half the altitude of the RAAM with a similar distance. The highest point of the Perth-Sydney tour is 700 meters. The weather conditions are likely to be the main problem for Christoph Strasser. The start in the height of Australian summer and the journey through the hot and dry outback will put the extreme athlete to a hard test. The Austrian would like to face the great heat with new cooling techniques.
Should the crossing of Australia succeed in less than a week, an entry in the book of records would definitely be guaranteed. For Christoph Strasser, the Perth-Sydney record attempt only marks the start of 2017. The program also includes what is now the seventh start at the RAAM in June – an event that the extreme athlete is already looking forward to. The Australia crossing Perth-Sydney is certainly also a dress rehearsal for the Race Across America.
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