Triple Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn to tackle cycling’s 24-hour record in memory of mother

DRIVEN by the memory of his mother who died of cancer when he was just 12, triple Olympic rowing gold medallist Drew Ginn will attempt to break cycling’s 24-hour record in Melbourne this month.

Olympic rowing champion Drew Ginn on his bike in preparation for his attempt at cycling's 24-hour record. Picture: Andrew Clifford.

DRIVEN by the memory of his mother who died of cancer when he was just 12, triple Olympic rowing gold medallist Drew Ginn will attempt to break cycling’s 24-hour record in Melbourne this month.

The 40-year-old former Oarsome Foursome member hopes to cover 900km in 24 hours around the Brunswick Velodrome on November 27-28 to raise money for Tour de Cure and the fight against cancer.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist from Atlanta, Athens and Beijing turned to cycling seriously while recovering from back surgery in 2009.

Last month he finished 39th in the 278km Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic and has been doing 6-8 hour time trial efforts in preparation for his record attempt.

His aim is to better the current record of 890km set by Slovenian Marko Bolah in 2008.

“To recover from those surgeries you’re walking and stretching and riding was one of the activities I was able to do without pain,” Ginn said.

“Bike riding became my way of getting involved and re-connecting with friends and all that sort of stuff.”

Last year Ginn tackled a 24-hour cycling challenge as part of a three-man team which rode 700km.

“When I finished that the first thing that popped into my head was ‘I wouldn’t mind doing something like this again solo and for the Tour de Cure’,” he said.

Australia's William Lockwood, James Chapman, Drew Ginn and Joshua Dunkley-Smith after winning silver in the Men's Four Final at the London Olympics.

“I’ve always wanted to do something around cancer because of her (mother) and I have a number of friends, coaches and athletes whose partners have had cancer and I found myself in the last few years reflecting a lot on the loss of mum.

“I feel like I’m in that space now where I don’t want to go much longer without raising awareness or funds (to fight cancer).

“Three or four years ago I never would have thought I’d be riding a bike for that long but I’ve just got the bug for it now.”

Ginn will make the record ride on a road bike with time trial bars and is anticipating a lot of pain as he attempts to hold 37-39km/h average.

“I’m anticipating a whole lot of suffering,” he said.

“I think once you get beyond 10-12 hours, the little things get magnified.

“It’s really important to keep moving around, keep stretching and mistakes that get made around food and fluid become big issues after that 12-hour period.

“It’s not like an hour effort or a time trial or a rowing race, it’s an exercise in patience, you get aches and pains from being in that position but once you get to that 12-hour mark you’ve got to really push yourself.”

He will only stop for toilet breaks and to stretch his legs momentarily while on the bike.

“You want to stay on the bike as much as possible but there are benefits in pausing even if it is only for a minute just to get out of the saddle and stand,” Ginn said.

“Toilet breaks obviously but everything I’ve seen to set the record is doing it as continuously as possible and not wasting any time.”

Ginn has also set himself a fundraising target of $20,000 as part of the Tour de Cure.

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Originally published as Triple Olympic gold medallist Drew Ginn to tackle cycling’s 24-hour record in memory of mother