A Scots athlete who has just broken the women’s record for cycling the North Coast 500 says the achievement hasn’t sunk in yet.
Caroline Livesey beat the previous fastest time by more than fours hours, and admitted she wanted to do more than just break the record.
Caroline was riding two different bikes during the ride. Picture: Mark Livesey
She began her record attempt at 4am on Tuesday when she was aiming to beat the 36 hours, 39 minutes and 7 seconds set by Christina Mackenzie in 2022.
Her husband Mark posted on social media that it was an “emotional rollercoaster” as Caroline smashed the time, completing the 516-mile route in 32 hours and 21 minutes.
The time is provisional until it is ratified by Guinness World Records and the World Ultra Cycling Association.
Speaking on Thursday morning from Inverness, Caroline said: “I’m delighted, it’s been such a huge project for us for six months to get ready and prepared for it and I’m just really happy that it all went to plan and it came off in the end.
Caroline Livesey took more than four hours off the previous record. Picture: Mark Livesey
“I’ve got 20 years of endurance sports experience so it’s not something I’m new to. I’ve done a few other very demanding endurance cycling events but I dedicated six months to specifically training for this.
“I wanted to not just break the record but do it as fast as I was capable of, so even when my crew were telling me ‘you’re way ahead of record pace, you can slow down’ I was like, no, I’m not here just to break the record, I want to complete this as quickly as I can.”
Livesey, from East Lothian, was supported by a small crew for safety, logistics and officiating, including Mark who was documenting the ride.
He said: “I never once doubted Caroline could not do this. I know her too well. She’s stubborn, relentlessly detailed to the point of madness, but most of all, she simply loves riding her bike.
“Watching Caroline take on something this brutally difficult was an emotional rollercoaster. Not only did I have to watch my wife suffer for hour after hour, I also had to document every part of it along the way.
Heading through Latheron on the NC500 record attempt. Picture: Mark Livesey
“The time itself doesn’t surprise me. Deep down, I always believed she had a 32-hour ride in her.
“What she has achieved out there is hard to put into words. The toughness, composure, determination and sheer love for the challenge was incredible to witness.”
Livesey had two bikes on the route which she was riding in full for the first time. She finished at Inverness Castle on Wednesday morning in the pouring rain.
“There are a lot of moving parts, so for everything to really go perfectly, other than the rain, it was amazing,” she said.
“It’s kind of compressed into quite a blur for me, I know some of it quite well but other bits I’d never seen before. It’s just unbelievable, it’s such a beautiful route.
‘It was quite a blur for me’: Caroline sped around the NC500 is just over 32 hours. Picture: Mark Livesey
“What drew me to it in the first place was just that – I wanted to do something that’s going to inspire people to donate to the charity and that other people will get inspired by, and also is Scottish because it’s where I’m from and it’s what I love.”
This was Livesey’s first attempt at a world record ride.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” she admitted. “I’ve just spent the time since I finished in a bubble with the crew and I’m only just switching on my email and my phone this morning.
“There were people at the finish and people clapping me as I came through, and it was just really lovely.”
The ride was aimed at raising money for the couple’s own charity, Peak Education Nepal, which they hope to raise £50,000 for.
They set it up after sponsoring a child there to go to school.
Livesey explained: “Mark and I went out to Nepal to do an endurance event and it was just us wanting to help the local community that had been so kind to us. I got really sick when we were out there and we just wanted to give back ourselves, so we supported a child.
“It was never an intention for it to be a formal charity but it just seemed to capture people’s imaginations and the more donations we got, the more I realised I was going to have to do something official with it.
“Last year we turned it into an official charity and we now support 12 children in Nepal to go to school – and these are kids who wouldn’t otherwise be able to be at school at all.
“It gives them the opportunity to elevate their family and their whole community. Some of these kids are the first generation of their family who are able to ready and write, and that changes everything.”
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