Video: Raleigh's Tommy Godwin Challenge—can you ride 205 miles in one day?

Riding over 200 miles in one day is a substantial challenge even for a fit club or sportive rider. In 1939 Tommy Godwin rode an average of 205 miles every day for an entire year, through all weathers and unstopped even by the onset of a world war. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of that ride, Raleigh is challenging everyone to equal Godwin's average for just one day.

Godwin’s total for the year was a staggering 75,065 miles, a mark that has never been beaten or even approached. It seems unlikely it will ever be surpassed. Modern equipment might make it slightly easier, but the sheer grit needed to keep going day after day truly seems belongs to a bygone age.

Even when he’d smashed the previous record, Bernard Bennett’s 65,127-mile mark, Godwin kept going and eventually reached 100,000 miles after 500 days.

Godwin rode a Raleigh Record Ace for most of his ride, switching after sponsor Ley Cycles became unable to carry on supporting him.

On November 22 2013, Raleigh employees Ben Hillsdon, John Pilgrim and Patrick Cutmore set out to ride from London to York to replicate the distance of just one average day of Godwin’s 1939.

Seventy-five years after Godwin’s ride, Raleigh is challenging everyone to have a crack at equalling Godwin’s average daily distance just once in the Tommy Godwin 205 Mile Challenge. There are £205-worth of prizes on offer for someone who completes the distance, but let’s face it you tackle a ride this long for the sense of achievement and bragging rights, and not for a couple hundred quid in swag.

So far just 40 riders have made the grade, so anyone else who makes the distance will be in some pretty select company.

You can see how Hillsdon, Pilgrim and Cutmore got on in this video, and submit your own entry in the Challenge at Raleigh’s Tommy Godwin Challenge page.

Want to know more about Tommy Godwin? Take a look at the official Tommy Godwin website.