Two University of St Andrews students have narrowly missed out on breaking the world record for completing the gruelling Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Argentina by bike.
Medical student Danny Beech and physics student Chris Lally set off on the 14,000 mile journey back in July, travelling down the spine of the Rocky Mountains, through the tropical climate of Central America, across the lifeless Atacama desert and finally over the Andes towards Patagonia and on to the bottom of Argentina.
Their aim was to break the existing record of 125 days to cycle the length of the journey from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina, and the pair managed to keep up an impressive pace on average cycling nearly 111 miles a day.
However, the duo lost 10 days of precious cycling time due to various bouts of illness and missed out on setting a new benchmark by just five days.
Despite that though, Danny and Chris’ incredible achievement has been rightly hailed by the university and its alumni.
Danny said: “What an amazing journey. At times our journey was brutal and unpleasant whilst at others the road took us to places of unimaginable beauty.
“We have pushed our bodies to the limit and only sought rest when severe illness prevented us riding.
“It is incredible to have finally reached the end of such an epic quest.
“Despite missing out on the world record, it is quite incredible that both of us have completed the challenge through so many different countries and along so many dangerous roads.”
The pair spent 1,300 hours in the saddle, and their speed topped out at 45.5 mph. As they climbed through various mountain ranges, from the Rockies in North America to the Andes in South America, they managed to cycle to a vertical height of 3846m.
In a single day they managed to cycle 172 miles, which is the equivalent of biking from St Andrews to Kyle of Lochalsh at the tip of the Isle of Skye.
And, in addition to cycling day in and day out, the alumni managed to make time to meet with young people interested in studying at St Andrews through various school presentations along their journey.
The pair funded the world record attempt with a £6000 R&A International Travel Scholarship and a £5000 Alex Richardson Award.
The R&A International Scholarship encourages students to broaden their minds in new, challenging and imaginative environments by funding international travel for undergraduates or recent graduates.
The Alex Richardson Award was founded in 2009 in memory of University of St Andrews student Alex Richardson, whose untimely death occurred midway through his junior honours year.