British adventurer takes elliptical route down Australia

As if riding from the top of Australia to the bottom weren't hard enough, English adventurer Glen Burmeister is currently trying to set a new Guiness world record for undertaking the journey on an elliptical bike.

Burmeister, 34, is on the way from Darwin in Australia's tropical north to Adelaide on the south coast aboard a treadle-powered ElliptiGo bike that requires the rider to stand all the time.

But the unconventional riding position isn't Burmeister's biggest worry on the 3,000+km journey down the Stuart Highway. Before setting out he told the ABC's James Purtill he was more worried about road trains, the multi-trailer trucks that haul freight across Australia.

"I'll wait and see," he said.

"Drivers notoriously don't like cyclists in the UK. But I've found on this, people are a lot more courteous with me. Even the truckers.

"I've had them slow down. One even stopped and gave me water. It's a bit unusual for them."

Burmeister already holds records for riding a conventional bike across the United States from north to south then immediately west to east; across Europe from Norway to Spain; and for visiting eleven European countries in seven days.

But he says the elliptical bike has renewed his interest in setting records.

"Attempting one type of record after the next gets a bit monotonous. This has kept it fresh and I can't wait."

To prepare for his Australian adventure, Burmeister knocked off a quick elliptical bike Land’s End to John o’Groats record, competing the trip in six days and ten hours.

He says the ElliptiGo takes some getting used to.

"My feet felt numb at first," he said.

"Riding mile after mile really hurts your feet. The elliptical cycle takes a bit more getting used to.

"If you're a strong cyclist you can take to it pretty easily.

"I think if you've got two quality athletes the bike would probably win. I overtake most cyclists on the road."

All long-distance adventurers face the problem of consuming enough calories. Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud famously ate a diet consisting largely of butter when they walked across antarctica in 1993. Burmeister is taking a slightly less saturated approach.

"I just eat what I can get basically, even if it’s chips and pies at the roadhouse.

"It’s hard to get all the calories you need. You can be burning 7,000-8,000 calories a day.

"I carry a bottle of oil and just pour that over. You make up a bowl of porridge and drown it in olive oil."