Father and son set record by drawing heart on bicycle

Frederic de Lanouvelle and his daughter Mathilde set a record by cycling across their hometown and drawing a heart on a map, covering a total distance of 2,162 km, to raise money for children with heart disease.

The De Lanouvelles’ trip took place from August 16 to 31. After 117 hours and 25 minutes of riding a tandem bike, creating a heart shape on the map, they completed the challenge, updated the photo and posted it to Strava, a social fitness network mainly used to track cycling and running using GPS data.

On October 5, the father and son trip was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world record for drawing the longest distance on a map with two people riding a tandem bicycle.

The 2,162 km tandem cycling journey across France was drawn into a heart shape on the Strava map by the De Lanouvelle father and son. Photo: Strava

On the Guinness World Records homepage, Frederic revealed that he wanted to take on the challenge with Mathilde on the occasion of his daughter's 16th birthday, after seeing the record for a 1,025 km (625 mi) dinosaur-drawn bicycle ride. Mathilde immediately supported the plan. The French father and his daughter raised more than $27,335 from the record to support the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiology Association, thereby helping to save two children.

Frederic has four daughters, but he’s not the doting dad. Instead, he likes to set off on epic adventures each time his daughters turn 16, and sees it as a way to strengthen their bond. Frederic took his eldest daughter to the Marathon des Sables, a 250km ultra marathon across the Sahara Desert in Morocco, and she loved it.

“With Mathilde, my second daughter, I was looking for another unique adventure,” says Frederic. “We cycled 600 km together and really enjoyed it. The advantage of tandem cycling is that the stronger person can help the other. It’s a team effort.”

Frederic and his daughter stopped to take souvenir photos on the road. Photo:

Sports seem to run in the de Lanouvelle family’s blood, as both Frederic and Mathilde are passionate about sports, from cycling, running to athletics. The father and daughter trained for three months before the tandem bike ride across their hometown and set a world record. “She’s special,” Frederic said of Mathilde with pride.

Despite careful preparation, Frederic and Mathilde's journey still encountered many obstacles, such as a broken chain, derailed gears, and a cracked frame on the sixth day of the challenge. Frederic thought he would not be able to continue the trip, but the people around him helped him, repaired the bike in a day and even welded the frame.

Mathilde and Frederic (left) with their bike after it was repaired by locals at the start of the journey. Photo: Strava

Frederic is not so much interested in getting into the Guinness Book of World Records, but considers the bonding with his daughters to be the most enjoyable part of the trip. “They talked and laughed a lot. It was an unforgettable memory,” he said. “Sharing the values ​​of our personal challenge, adventure and the beauty of the landscapes we crossed with as many people as possible on social media and in the media gave us a real motivation.”

According to Frederic, the strength of setting such a record is that it promotes a number of positive values ​​such as commitment, sport, unity and family. The father and son are delighted and proud to have broken the world record, and said that achieving such a “legendary” achievement is “quite a strange feeling”.

Frederic and his daughter celebrate after completing a section of their ride. Photo: Strava

And if the opportunity arises, they will not refuse to try to set another record. “If there are other great adventures that allow us to break new records, we will take them without hesitation,” Frederic emphasized.

According to VNE

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/giai-tri/hai-bo-con-lap-ky-luc-di-xe-dap-ve-hinh-trai-tim/255814.htm