Record attempt a test of will for Townsville man Allan Jefferson

“You don’t know your limits so let’s go and find them.”

Allan Jefferson has always been driven by a desire to discover exactly what his limits are, and his upcoming record attempt is set to reveal to him what his barriers are.

The Townsville triathlete will be attempting to ride the Coast to Coast — from Perth to Sydney — in record time, aiming to achieve the feat in under six days and 10 hours.

Inspired by Chris Legh crawling across the finish line of the Kailua-Kona World Championships in 1997, Jefferson has always marvelled at an athlete’s ability to go beyond what many would consider their limits.

More of that realisation came when he witness — and attempted — the Race Across America, where the exploits of some of the competitors were “just nuts”.

Jefferson admits there is a psychological edge to the journey he will embark on when August 21 hits, and that would be his greatest challenge,

Because for him stopping is not an option, he is capable of pushing through physical pain.

His long history taking on Ironman competitions has taught him that much, but it is the concept that he is yet to find out how far he can charge on that thrills him of the daunting crusade.

Cyclist Allan Jefferson will attempt to complete the Coast to Coast in record time. Picture: Evan Morgan

“They (the Race Across America competitors) were absolutely pushing the boundaries you don’t know your limits so let’s go and find them,” Jefferson said.

“That’s the bit that excites me, I don’t know what my limit is. I may have surpassed it and bluffed my way through the rest of it, but not knowing what your limits are is awesome because you can go out and see if you can find them.

“For me, watching the solo guys, there is a huge mental component to it. For the Ironman’s I think it’s 80/20 – 80 per cent your body, 20 per cent your head – but ultra-cycling is probably one per cent your body 99 per cent your head. It’s getting your head around that.”

“I guess for me stopping is not an option, I take that option off the table.

“It is a mental game, you’re riding to the next telegraph pole, you’re riding to the next corner, you’re riding to the next pothole — you break it down into little bits and pieces you can deal with at the time.”

Jefferson’s preparations will be turned up a notched this weekend, when he participates in the inaugural Ravenswood to Burdekin Dam Gran Fondo.

Cycling photos

However the 164km ride will be only a small taste of what he is to expect, as he aims to complete 600km each day on his record attempt.

In total, Jefferson will travel 3950km, and at times he will be forced to go prolonged periods without sleep.

But that does not faze him — it is all part of the test of his limits he is chasing.

“To me if I’m pushing that 24 to 48 hours without a sleep, you don’t want to go much longer than that because it’s going to be detrimental to you at some point down the track,” Jefferson said.

“I’ll get moments or a few minutes where I’m just incredibly sleepy, but it will pass. Even putting me down for five, 10, 20 minutes is great, I respond very well to that.

“The first job is to get from Perth to Sydney in one piece, but all of the crew knowing that (record time), everything we do is based on getting me across faster than that.”

Originally published as Record attempt a test of will for Townsville man Allan Jefferson